SHAME OF A NATION: Falcons Protest Unpaid Bonuses At National Assembly

Nigeria’s victorious women’s football team, the Super Falcons, have protested outside parliament in Abuja over unpaid winning bonuses.

Their protest coincided with President Muhammadu Buhari’s arrival at the National Assembly to present next year’s budget.

The African champions then marched to President Buhari’s villa, where an aide said they would be paid in two days.

They have refused to leave a nearby hotel until they receive winning bonuses of  $17,150 each (£13,500)m about N7.7 million

At the president’s villa Mr Buhari’s Chief of Staff Malam Abba Kyari told them the government was aware of their situation and promised it would be resolved within two days.

Speaking to the BBC’s Naziru Mikailu in Abuja, one of the players said they had decided to go back to their hotel and wait for the government to fulfil its promise.

The issue has also been attracting the attention of other Nigerian sport stars.

“My feelings are hurt by the treatment of our champions, the Super Falcons. This issue must be resolved for the dignity of our sports people,” tweetedformer Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo.

The Super Falcons clinched their eighth women’s Africa Cup of Nations title with a 1-0 win over hosts Cameroon on 3 December.

However the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has so far paid them less than $2,000 each.

The NFF is also understood to have promised to pay allowances for qualifying for the tournament.

But the organisation, which receives direct funding from government, is in dire straits after Nigeria slipped into recession in August for the first time in more than a decade.

It is not the first time the Super Falcons and the NFF have clashed over unpaid bonuses and allowances.

Twelve years ago, the team remained in their hotel in South Africa for three days after the Nigeria FA, as the NFF was then called, failed to pay their bonuses for winning the 2004 African Women’s Championship.

Nigerian teams have frequently been affected by pay disputes, with coaches regularly going unpaid and players boycotting training during qualifiers or at tournaments over unpaid bonuses.

The NFF’s financial difficulties have forced them to cut backroom staff and slash the salaries and allowances of the various national team coaches. However this does not include new Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr.