President Bola Tinubu has conferred National Awards of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), lands and flats to Super Eagles players after their second finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in Ivory Coast.
All the 25 players of the Super Eagles team and their officials are now also proud owners of a flat and a plot of land each in the Federal Capital Territory.
The team and officials of the Super Eagles were led to the Presidential Villa, by Senator John Enoh, the minister of sports development.
President Tinubu made the announcement when he received the players at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He commended the team for their exemplary display of unity, determination, and resilience on the field.
“I am very proud of you. This country is proud of you because you gave us great excitement. Your performance is confirmation that we can achieve so much as a nation if we all come together and unite for positive purposes, despite our diversity, ” Tinubu said.
“You worked very hard and navigated your way through to the Final. You lifted our spirit; you made us proud and you made us smile.”
The President then conferred National Awards of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) on all the players and their officials.
President Tinubu described Super Eagles defender and vice-captain William Troost-Ekong, who won the Player of the Tournament, as a ‘warrior’ and named Africa Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen as a ‘Trojan horse’. He praised the Federal Ministry of Sports and the Nigeria Football Federation for their efforts in preparing the team for glory.
Troost-Ekong, responding on behalf of the entire, thanked President Tinubu for the awards and gifts.
“I wish we are here presenting Your Excellency with the trophy, but that is not the case despite giving our very best to the campaign, ” Troost-Ekong said.
“We have two people in this team who have gold medals, each sitting on either side of me (Ahmed Musa and Kenneth Omeruo). In 2019, we won bronze medals. This time, we won silver medals. I believe that at the next competition, we will strike gold.”
Senator Enoh described President Tinubu as the biggest sports-supporting President that Nigeria has ever had and lauded the Nigeria Football Federation for ensuring that for the first time in a long time, Nigeria has returned from a major sporting competition without any crisis or complaints of any kind by the athletes.
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