EXCLUSIVE: How To Halt Rot In Nigeria Women’s Football

An African proverb which is also an Igbo adage said “an elder does not sit at home and watch a tethered goat deliver” (Okenye anaghi ano n’ulo ewu amuo na agbu).

The above proverb explains why it has become imperative  for this writer to pen this report to expose the rot in Nigeria women’s football which if left to fester will render useless the efforts of pioneers of the beautiful game especially those who put in their scarce resources and also devoted their time in the development, growth, promotion and administration of women’s football in Nigeria and to nurture it to money-spinning sport it has now become in the country.

With each of the 23 players registered by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to represent the country in the just concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Australia and New Zealand guaranteed a huge sum of $60,000, which translates to about N48 m in local currency, aside camp allowances and bonus, women’s football has become a profitable sports that can no longer be treated like a recreational sports.

But the labours of pioneer women’s football promoters, sponsors, club owners, coaches, players and supporters would have been in vain if the rot in the game in Nigeria is allowed to continue even as the country will be the worst for it because Nigeria is currently no longer a force in women’s football in Africa.

The pointer to the fact that Nigeria has lost her status as a strong force in women’s football in  the continent is the inability of the country’s club Delta Queens FC of Asaba to qualify for the 2023 CAF Women’s Champions League. The Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) Premier  champions was defeated 1-0 by Ampem Darkoa Ladies FC of Ghana in the final of West African Football Union (WAFU-B) tournament in Benin City, Edo state last Thursday.

The latest failure of Nigeria’s club to qualify for CAFWCL  is coming on the back of the 11-time  African champions, Super Falcons’ inability to make a  podium finish in the last Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco in 2022. Super Falcons handled by American-born Randy Waldrum finished in the fourth place in Morocco, a big failure by country’s  pedigree on the continent.

Nigeria, the defending champion was defeated in the group stage by the eventual cup winners South Africa, lost in the semi final to host Morocco in a penalty shootout and again beaten by Zambia in the 3rd Place match to leave the competition without a medal.

Continuing in the pattern of poor run trailing Nigeria football in the recent time, the two clubs, Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt and Bayelsa Queens of Yenagoa that represented Nigeria in the two previous CAFWCL finals returned home empty-handed.

Nigeria’s representatives in the maiden edition in 2021, Rivers Angels crashed out in the group stage of the eight-team tournament after arriving the competition venue in Egypt less than 24 hours to the club’s first match. Also, Bayelsa Queens who qualified for the competition in 2022 crashed out in the semi final stage.

Recently, Nigeria was eliminated by England women’s football team, the  Three Lionesses in the Round of 16 stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Australia and New Zealand, a country that went ahead to play in the final against Spain and lost by a lone goal.

A careful analysis of the poor performance of the country’s teams  (national and clubs) both in the continent and globally, and now in the sub-continental tournament like WAFU B qualifiers revealed that women’s football is fast dying in Nigeria as the game cannot by any yardstick be said to be growing in the country.

Flashback to the early 1990s when the foundation of women’s football was laid by private individuals who deployed their wealth to build from the scratch, the brand called women’s football in Nigeria by investing their resources in setting up and  funding pioneer

women’s football clubs in Nigeria.

These pioneers including Chief Christopher Abisuga’s Golden Wonders of Lagos; Princess Hannah Bola Jegede’s Jegede Babes of Lagos; Elder Bola Kuejunbola’s Ufuoma Babes of Warri and Chief Larry Ezeh’s Larry Angels of Port Harcourt (now Rivers Angels), made great sacrifices to start early women’s football clubs.

Other clubs founded by individuals are Hamza Admirers Ladies (Alhaji Grema Mohammed), C.N.Okoli Babes (Chief CN Okoli) and later Kakanfo Queens of Abeokuta Chief (Mrs) Simbiat Abiola, Oladimeji Tigresss FC of Ilorin (Alhaja Rasheedat Oladimeji) and Omidiran Babes of Oshogbo (Alhaja Ayo Omidiran).

In fact, by 1991, no fewer than 13 private women’s football clubs were domiciled in Lagos alone while Kano had three, Kaduna two, Ibadan two, Benin City, Warri, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Enugu, Ogoja, Kafanchan, Jos and Maiduguri had women’s football teams that were playing in the Nigeria women’s football league across the country.