NIGERIA’S unstructured reward system is the current focus of a heated public debate. The issue of fair compensation for diverse and critical activities has been simmering over time. The Federal Government has unwittingly instigated another round of dissonance after the Super Falcons’ glorious triumph at the 2024 WAFCON.
Africa’s best female football squad secured their 10th WAFCON title on July 26 via a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory over hosts, Morocco.
Athletes deserve celebration, but their achievements should not be prioritised above critical national needs such as saving lives, educating the youth, or safeguarding national security.
On Monday, the Federal Government also rewarded D’Tigress, Nigeria’s national female basketball team, after Sunday’s 78-64 victory over Mali in the final of the 2025 Afrobasket to win an unprecedented fifth straight title in Abidjan.
The reward for the Falcons, calculated at N1,500/$, saw each player pocketing $100,000 (N150 million) and each technical crew member $50,000 (N75 million). Added to this is a three-bedroom apartment for each beneficiary in the FCT, national honours and a celebratory fanfare funded by the taxpayer.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum contributed an additional N350 million, bringing the total largesse to nearly N5 billion, for winning a tournament whose prize was only $1 million. The players and crew received more rewards from corporate organisations and their state governments. More may still come.
While Nigerians take utmost pride in the Super Falcons and D’Tigress, this sentimental display of executive generosity underscores a fundamental dysfunction of the Nigerian state: a reward system devoid of structure, equity, or long-term vision.
Doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers hold Nigeria’s fragile systems together. They are not seeking luxury; they are begging for dignity.
Their skills, tenacity and resilience deserve national recognition and a measure of reward. On Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu initiated steps to enhance the paltry pension of retired police officers.
Doctors have repeatedly sounded the alarm about the brain drain devastating the healthcare system, largely due to poor pay. Nurses only just suspended their strike after days of public health paralysis
ASUU is once again threatening industrial action as long-standing grievances remain unaddressed. Teachers were on strike in Abuja for about 100 days.
Nigeria rewards spectacle and neglects substance. National recognition is not the exclusive preserve of entertainers and sports figures, no matter how exceptional their achievements. A system where reward is arbitrary, emotionally driven, and utterly divorced from public policy is not sustainable.
There should be a structured process. The Ministry of Sports should disburse the rewards pre-agreed before a tournament, not at the whim of the executive.
Ahead of Euro 2025, the Lionesses (England) agreed with the FA to share £1.75 million out of the £4.4 million winning prize given by UEFA from the tournament’s total package of £34 million. Instructively, the English FA gave the reward, not the British government.
Out of the £1.75 million, the taxman and National Insurance will deduct £788,000, leaving the players to share less than £1 million.
The FIRS should deduct the appropriate tax from these rewards. The Federal Government and the state governments should learn from this example.
Nigeria is in one of the worst economic downturns in decades, with inflation surging, food prices unbearable, and the naira floundering, so, it is not the time to whimsically allocate billions to a football team without institutional checks.
Citizens are not asking for handouts: they desire a just reward system. The minimum wage is about $46 per month, so giving $100,000 per player is excessive.
Nigeria should extend equal honour to those who make daily, often invisible, sacrifices to keep it functioning, teachers in under-resourced classrooms, doctors working without essential tools, and lecturers moulding the next generation under crumbling roofs. Their victories may not draw stadium cheers, but they are no less heroic.
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