The event was originally billed as a ‘Thank You Brunch’ with Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board member, Aisha Falode, but it gradually became a commendation session for the women football advocate. One by one, the stakeholders, including immediate past NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, who is now a FIFA Council member, former first vice president of the federation, Seyi Akinwunmi, former national team captain, Segun Odegbami, chairman of Sports Radio, Brila FM, Dr. Larry Izamoje and AIPS Africa’s immediate past president, Mitchell Obi, took turns to eulogise the football amazon, who is credited for the giant strides the country’s women football has made in recent years.

Super Falcons’ stars set the ball rolling with recorded videos where they talked about their different encounters with Falode and the changes she engineered in their careers and Nigeria’s women football.

Barcelona striker, Asisat Oshoala, said Falode gave the NWFL a big boost to strengthen the women national team with budding stars.

“Many players came up from the league and they were so talented and hungry for glory. The league witnessed a rebirth under Madam Falode. I wish her luck in her future endeavours,” she said.

Rasheedat Ajibade also said Falode was a game changer in the history of women’s football in the country, just as goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie said she was proud to be one of the products of the Super Six Championship introduced by Falode.

To Monday Gift stated, Falode’s dedication stood her out and empowered many young talents to develop into super stars of today.
Dr. Izamoje stated that the testimonies of the players were enough as scorecard of the five-year sojourn of Falode in the NWFL.

Pinnick also heaped praises on Falode, whom he described as a gift to humanity for her excellence, loyalty and dedication in the discharge of her duties in the federation.

Surprised and at the same time elated by the unsolicited accolades, Falode said she met the women league at point zero because there was no structure when she became NWFL chairperson.

“We took over when teams were not turning up for matches, but by the time we started paying referees, teams took the league serious and we moved on till we managed to attract sponsors. I thank Amaju Pinnick for his assistance and also all those who supported me while in office as NWFL chair person,” she said.

Falode said her low point was governance because of the stubborn nature of the people in the league.
“Governance was tough because even when we agreed on issues at the meeting, the administrators of these teams would go ahead to do something else; all the same, I stamped my foot down to ensure reason prevailed in all of those cases just for the growth of women football,” Falode said.