“I support the equal pay” – Nigerian actress demands better pay for women footballers

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigerian actress, Hilda Dokubo is advocating equal pay for men’s and women’s footballers after the country’s senior women’s national team were knocked out of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Her comments is coming on the heels of increasing embrace of equal pay for their men and women in top countries, including Wales, the United States of America (USA), Brazil, Australia, Norway, and New Zealand.

However, the story is difference in Africa, with Nigeria’s women national team, who had won the Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) nine times in 12 appearances forced to always protest before getting their entitlements.

And Dokubo feels the time is right for Nigeria to join the comity of nations by implement the new equal pay order.

“I support the call for equal pay, they should pay the women as good as they are paying the men, after all, it is the same football that they are all playing,” Dokubo told Punch.

“Even our women are more entertaining, they deserve equal treatment, please. In fact, the women deserve even better.”

African teams have not won the FIFA Women’s World Cup since its inception in 1991 which the author and politician believes Nigeria can win in the future.

“It is possible because our women are very good and they have an excellent spirit, which I believe is needed. I am confident that they can win anything. With time and people getting motivated and lots of practice and preparations we can win the World Cup.”

For the second year running, Asisat Oshoala has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or award and Dokubo stresses that the Barcelona star’s achievement is a major testament for the contribution of women’s footballers.

“The truth is anyone who is nominated deserves to be reached out to and congratulated because it is not easy,” she continued.

“It doesn’t matter if the person is your choice but the fact the person is a Nigerian makes us happy and we should celebrate Oshoala and Osimhen because that’s the only way we keep encouraging more people to get involved and put in their best. But if we all act like we don’t care, people will not be motivated.

“I feel excited that one of our own has been nominated and we should congratulate Oshoala even if she doesn’t win because it is not easy to be shortlisted for such a prestigious award because we know the number of people in the world and yet she was nominated. We should be proud of her and celebrate her.”