Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has urged the Nigeria senior male football team, the Super Eagles to believe in themselves as they head to Cote D’Ivoire for the 2023/2024 Edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) starting on January 13, 2024.
Speaking at a special sent forth dinner on Tuesday night before the team finally jet off to Cote D’Ivoire for the African continental footballing showpiece, the governor reiterated that Nigerians are solidly behind them to make the country proud.
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“You must believe in yourselves; people might say Nigeria doesn’t have a team, if you are ready to believe in yourself, and once you believe in yourself and your team, then we are on a good track already. What you should be saying to yourselves as you come out of the tunnel is that I am wearing the Green White Green shirt of Nigeria, no matter what the obstacles are, no matter what the challenges are, I want to go out there and demonstrate that I am a Nigerian.
You should always remember that there are 220 million Nigerians at home and another 30 million that are in the Diaspora that are solidly behind you” he said.
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Musa Gusau thanked Governor Sanwo-Olu and his administration for their magnanimity.
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“The NFF and the Nigeria Football fraternity are grateful to Governor Sanwo-Olu and his administration for agreeing to host the team at the Send Forth ceremony” Gusau said.
“It is an occasion to tell the players how much Nigerians will be supporting them at the Africa Cup of Nations Championship. The Honourable Minister of Sports Development will deliver a message from President Bola Tinubu. We believe that the event, anchored on the Let’s Do It Again theme, will galvanise the team to go for a fourth continental title in Cote d’Ivoire.”
Nigerian contingent to the 2023 AFCON will depart Lagos on Wednesday morning to Abidjan, where the team will compete in Group A against host nations Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau. The delegation will be led by the Chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee, Sharif Rabiu Inuwa.
