They waited for 30 long years, a period in which one of them,
Kingsley Akhionbare, joined the great beyond, but yesterday at the Aso
Rock Villa members of the victorious team of the China 1985 FIFA U-16
Championship were made to smile as a grateful nation finally rewarded
them for service to the country.
Incidentally, President Muhammadu
Buhari was the Military Head of State when the team, led by Sebastian
Brodericks, beat Germany 2-0 to win the Kodak trophy. But he was removed
in a palace coup before he could fulfill his promise of rewarding the
members of the team.
But in a elaborate ceremony yesterday, each
of the players were rewarded with N2 million, while their coaches were
given N 1.5 million.
Before the event started, the president
called for a one-minute silence in honour of a member of the team,
Kingsley Aikhionbare, who died in London in 1996.
Apart from the
members of the 1995 set, the winners of the Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World
Cup, were also given N1.2 million each, their Head Coach – N900, 000,
Assistant Coaches – N600, 000, while the Team Secretary and Medical Team
were rewarded with N300, 000 each and other officials got N200, 000.
The players of the 2015 CAF U-23 Cup of Nations team each got N500, 000; Head Coach got N500, 000; while Assistant Coaches and other Team Officials got N300, 000 each.
Apart
from footballers, the President also announced financial rewards for
various categories of athletes, who brought honour and laurels to
Nigeria in various international competitions, especially in the last
seven months of his assumption of office as a democratically-president
of Nigeria.
Speaking at the event, Buhari praised the athletes for
always proving to the world that the Nigerian spirit is indomitable and
assured that the Federal Government “would not relent in its efforts to
ensure that our sportsmen and women continue to excel in international
competitions.”