By Dayo Awoniyi
Nigeria’s flag bearers for the 2025 WAFU-B Schools Football Championship will be confirmed on Friday, when the national qualifying tournament in Abuja concludes.
The week-long round-robin competition has been staged across the FIFA Goal Project Pitch inside the MKO Abiola National Stadium and the Area 3 Football Ground, featuring the country’s best-performing schools.
In the girls’ category, representatives from the FCT, Adamawa, Gombe and Lagos are vying for top spot, while the boys’ division has drawn teams from the FCT, Kaduna, Delta, Enugu, Ekiti and Taraba.
Both champions will go on to represent Nigeria at the WAFU-B Championship in Burkina Faso, scheduled for 27–30 November, which serves as the qualifying pathway to the CAF African Schools Football Championship.
In addition to the winning schools, standout players identified during the tournament will be drafted into a composite Schools National Team, boosting Nigeria’s strength at the regional stage.
Victors from the WAFU-B zone will advance to the continental finals alongside champions from CECAFA, COSAFA, UNAF, UNIFFAC and WAFU-A, in next year’s pan-African competition.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. On the back of domestic engagement since 2008, he began his international career journey at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
