President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced that the Federal Government has completed the cash rewards promised to Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, saying each player has received the naira equivalent of $100,000 and each official the equivalent of $50,000.
In a statement issued on Thursday via his official X account, the President said the payments complete a package that also includes national honours and three-bedroom homes in Abuja. He described the outcome as the first time a federal government had fulfilled presidential sporting rewards on this scale in full within one year.
“Today, the rewards I promised our D’Tigress have been fully redeemed,” he wrote. “We had to follow the processes required by law and ensure that every commitment was properly implemented. That took time, but a promise made must be a promise kept.”
The National Sports Commission confirmed that the players’ and officials’ accounts were credited on 9 September 2026 and that the recipients had acknowledged receipt. The cash element follows earlier delivery of Certificates of Occupancy for the Abuja apartments and certificates of the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), which were presented in February 2026 during the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in Lyon.
D’Tigress earned the package after winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket in Côte d’Ivoire, securing a record fifth consecutive continental title and a seventh overall.
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The President said outstanding cash rewards for the Super Falcons were now being concluded. Players and officials of the women’s football team have already received title documents for their house allocations and their national honours certificates after winning a tenth Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title in Morocco. He added that the promise of houses and national honours made to Super Eagles players had already been redeemed.
“Our athletes who bring honour to Nigeria deserve more than applause. They deserve a country that keeps its word,” Tinubu said. “My promise to every Nigerian athlete is: make Nigeria proud, and come back to a grateful nation.”
The announcement comes after D’Tigress’s campaign at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Germany, where the side exited at the group stage. The government has presented the completed package as evidence that presidential sporting pledges can be carried through once legal and administrative processes are observed.
By Jason Brady
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