{"id":15926,"date":"2025-07-27T10:39:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T10:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/?p=15926"},"modified":"2025-07-27T10:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T10:41:07","slug":"safe-journey-home-i-look-forward-to-receiving-the-trophy-in-abuja-president-tinubu-tells-wafcon-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/2025\/07\/27\/safe-journey-home-i-look-forward-to-receiving-the-trophy-in-abuja-president-tinubu-tells-wafcon-champions\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018SAFE JOURNEY HOME\u2026 I LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING THE TROPHY IN ABUJA, PRESIDENT TINUBU TELLS WAFCON CHAMPIONS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>President Bola Tinubu has expressed his delight at the Super Falcons\u2019 spectacular victory at the 2024 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), stating that he eagerly looks forward to receiving the trophy in Abuja.<\/p>\n<p>In a post-match video call with team captain Rasheedat Ajibade, her teammates, and Nigerian officials, President Tinubu congratulated the team on securing a record 10th continental title and lifting the nation\u2019s spirits.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am very, very proud of you. The entire nation is proud of you. You have lifted our spirits. You are a pride to your generation and we are all very happy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You will be celebrated, and I congratulate all the coaches and management of the team, including the ministers and the officials,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The President extended his best regards to Rasheedat Ajibade, who emerged as the tournament\u2019s Most Valuable Player and clinched the Woman of the Tournament award.<\/p>\n<p>He also praised Esther Okoronkwo\u2019s composure during a crucial moment in the final, describing her 64th-minute penalty kick, which sparked a dramatic comeback, as &#8220;very courageous.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Okoronkwo created the second goal and delivered the decisive free-kick that Jennifer Echegini converted to seal Nigeria\u2019s 3-2 victory.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018\u2018Safe journey home, enjoy yourselves, avoid injuries, God bless you,\u2019\u2019 the President told the jubilant players and officials, who repeatedly interjected with \u2018\u2019Thank you, Mr President!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Responding on behalf of the team, Ajibade thanked the President for approving the full payment of players\u2019 allowances. She assured him the team was eager to present him with the WAFCON trophy in Abuja.<\/p>\n<p>The lively exchange ended with a spirited rendition of the national anthem and three thunderous &#8220;Gbosa!&#8221; cheers for the President.<\/p>\n<p>Bayo Onanuga<br \/>\nSpecial Adviser to the President,<br \/>\n(Information and Strategy)<br \/>\nJuly 27, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Bola Tinubu has expressed his delight at the Super Falcons\u2019 spectacular victory at the 2024 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15926"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15929,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15926\/revisions\/15929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}