President Goodluck Jonathan will on Sunday in Abuja host the victorious Golden Eaglets to a grand reception.
Dr. Reuben Abati, the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said in a statement on Friday that the reception would hold at the Banquet Hall of the State House from 7 p.m.
The Eaglets had on Friday in the UAE beaten defending champions Mexico 3-0 to win the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
The victory in the final match in Abu Dhabi gave Nigeria its fourth title win for a record achievement in the 28-year history of the competition.
The statement said the reception would be “in appreciation of the great honour and glory they (the Eaglets) have brought to their fatherland’’.
It said the reception was in fulfilment of Jonathan’s promise of a heroes’ welcome for the triumphant Golden Eaglets on their return home.
The statement said Jonathan, while congratulating the team, commended the Eaglets for their performance and saluted their “glorious achievement’’.
“The President commends the young Eaglets for the exemplary commitment, dedication, resilience, determination, patriotism and unity of purpose they displayed throughout the tournament to make Nigeria the world’s under-17 football champions once again,’’ it said.
The statement said Jonathan urged the leadership of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) to strive to make the gains of winning the competition count.
“The NFA should ensure that the world-conquering Eaglets, who have shown such immense potentials as youngsters, are properly nurtured, trained and developed to represent the nation at higher levels in future international football competitions,’’ the president said.
Nigeria had in 1985, 1993 and 2007 won the competition and emerged runners-up in 1987, 2001 and 2009.
