By Faith Anisiobi, The Sight News
The Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Bukola Olopade, has charged the Golden Eaglets to win the WAFU B U-17 Championship in Burkina Faso and begin Nigeria’s journey back to the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Olopade gave the charge on Monday during a morale-boosting visit to the team’s training camp at the FIFA Goal Project pitch in Abuja, ahead of their departure on Tuesday for the WAFU B tournament.
The NSC DG urged the players to embrace the responsibility of representing Nigeria, stressing that their immediate target should be winning the WAFU B Championship, qualifying for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and ultimately securing a place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
“We have not qualified for the World Cup for a long time now, and the country is looking up to you to end that drought. You are Nigerians, and Nigerians are fighters. ‘We no dey carry last’. Go to Burkina Faso, win the WAFU B tournament, qualify for the AFCON and then secure our place at the World Cup,” Olopade told the players.
He also assured the team of the support of Nigerians, urging the players to remain disciplined, focused and united throughout the competition.
“We are dreaming of winning the World Cup, and that dream starts with you. You have the talent, you have the opportunity and you have the support of the entire country,” he said.
Nigeria are record five-time winners of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, having won the competition in 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015. The Golden Eaglets also became the first nation to win the tournament five times after securing back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2015.
The country’s U-17 programme has produced several prominent footballers, including Nwankwo Kanu, Kelechi Iheanacho and Victor Osimhen, who went on to make significant impacts at the international level.
Olopade urged the current generation of Golden Eaglets to draw inspiration from that legacy and write a new chapter in Nigeria’s history by ending the country’s absence from the global U-17 competition.
