AFCON 2023: President Tinubu doles out N1.1 billion to support Super Eagles bid

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has allocated $1.3 million in funding for the national football team, the Super Eagles, ahead of the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON. 

The Super Eagles are in Cote d’Ivoire in search of a fourth AFCON title, 10 years after Nigeria last conquered Africa. 

According to a tweet by reliable Nigerian Photojournalist Adepoju Tobi Samuel, President Tinubu has approved over N1 billion to support the Super Eagles in their quest to lift the AFCON title again. 

"President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved $1.3 million for Super Eagles AFCON campaign," Samuel announced on X.com formerly Twitter. "Let's Do It Again!!!," he added, rallying fans behind the three-time AFCON champions.

With the backing from the new President, the Jose Peseiro-led Super Eagles now have enough motivation to focus on the task ahead. 

Nigeria will kick start their journey with a tricky tie against Equatorial Guinea on January 14th, 24 hours after the 2023 AFCON kicked off in Ivory Coast. 

Meanwhile, in a related development, Nigeria Super Eagles' aim to win a fourth AFCON title has been boosted by CAF's decision to increase prize money across the board.

The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has announced a substantial 40% increase in prize money for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, in Cote d’Ivoire.

Ahead of the competition which is set to kick off on January 13th, CAF took to its website to release a statement about prize money.

According to the report, should Nigeria’s Super Eagles emerge winners of the competition, they will celebrate with a grand prize of USD 7, 000,000.

For the runner-up, the reward has also witnessed an increase, with USD 4,000,000 set aside while the semifinalists will get USD 2,5000,000.

Teams that qualified for the quarterfinal are also not left out, with USD 1,300,000 for each of them