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Tinubu receives Nigerian women's team after Africa Cup victory / Photo: © AFP
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Tinubu receives Nigerian women's team after Africa Cup victory
The Nigerian women's national football team touched down in the capital Monday for an audience with the president, fresh off their weekend Africa Cup championship victory over Morocco.
The Super Falcons, winners of Saturday's Women's Africa Cup of Nations final, were greeted on the tarmac at Abuja's international airport by traditional dancers, drummers and a swarm of journalists and government officials.
They then departed in a convoy escorted by security to meet with President Bola Tinubu.
The women brought with them their 10th WAFCON trophy, the culmination of years of dominance at the continent level despite struggles at home over late payments and pay disparities with the men's team.
To grab the gold, the Super Falcons mounted a stunning comeback from a seemingly fatal 2-0 deficit, winning 3-2 over their WAFCON hosts in Rabat.
Ahead of the match it was announced that Tinubu had personally approved players' tournament bonus payments. The seemingly routine measure has in the past been anything but, with the Super Falcons butting heads with the Nigeria Football Federation over unpaid bonuses after their 2023 Women's World Cup run.
Fans in recent years have also called for the team to be paid the same as the men's team, the Super Eagles.
At the presidential villa, Tinubu announced that players would be given a three bedroom apartment as well as a $100,000 cash bonus.
"We could not be prouder," the president said, adding that he "didn't want to watch the match" at one point because of the stress.
- Problems 'drowned' by victory -
Despite the challenges, the team has made an appearance in every women's World Cup since the tournament debuted in 1991.
"Nigeria is the best country, with the best women's national football team," said Paul Edeh, chairman of the Benue State Football Association, who was at the airport to greet the team Monday.
"What these girls have been able to achieve... the kind of trophies they've brought to us, we've not seen that with the male team," he told AFP.
While watch parties erupted in cheers across the country Saturday evening, the overall reaction in the country of some 220 million was relatively muted.
Most of the crowd greeting the players as they touched down were airport workers, government officials and journalists.
Though the government promised "the streets of Abuja" would "be agog" during a citywide parade, ultimately plans were pared back.
For many fans, however, the team got its proper roses with Saturday's trophy, which also served as a temporary relief from the country's many crises, from jihadist insurgency to spiralling inflation.
Muhammad Awwal, a taxi driver in Kano, told AFP over the weekend that the women helped Nigerians "momentarily forget our common problems".
"All our problems were drowned in the frenzy of celebration of the spectacular win," he said.
E.Walker--SFF
