Why Benue Queens are ‘donating’ points to NWFL opponents
The football club called Benue Queens is exhibiting embarrassing performances in this year’s Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL). For many, the poor results are not surprising because the foundation upon which the club is built is completely faulty. Therefore, many people are saying that it will take a miracle for the Queens from Benue to […]
The football club called Benue Queens is exhibiting embarrassing performances in this year’s Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL). For many, the poor results are not surprising because the foundation upon which the club is built is completely faulty. Therefore, many people are saying that it will take a miracle for the Queens from Benue to survive relegation at the end of the season.
Why it is almost impossible to imagine that the club will remain in the Nigerian topflight at the end of the season is that the Benue Queens have failed to win a single point in four matches. Playing their home matches away from home at the Lafia Township Stadium, Benue Queens opened their campaign with a scandalous 1-5 loss to FC Robo of Lagos. They then travelled to Asaba, where they were beaten 0-2 by Delta Queens. They returned to Lafia and were hammered 1-5 by Bayelsa Queens before the 1-2 defeat at Ibom Angels. Therefore, in four matches, they scored only three goals while conceding 14, giving no indication that they would perform better against other group opponents like Rivers Angels and Adamawa Queens.
Well, going by the way the club came into the Nigerian topflight, most of the fans didn’t expect anything less than what is happening. In fact, Benue State football fans only woke up to the news of the birth of the club a few days to the kickoff of the ongoing season. Like a sudden decision, the football authorities in Benue announced that a privately owned club, Honey Badgers, would henceforth be known as Benue Queens and would compete in the NWFL.
The news heralding the club shocked many, who wondered how quickly the switch from Badgers to Benue Queens took place. Consequently, some of the football stakeholders asked to know the extent of the involvement of the state government in the new club. In fact, even now, the state government is yet to say categorically that it is the official sponsor of the club.
Sadly, those who pronounced it into existence didn’t say how much it cost the government to get the NWFL slot from the owner of Honey Badgers. Another contentious issue was that the same Honey Badger was once adopted by Lobi Stars before the beginning of the 2023/2024 season. Was the adoption true or false? Was it documented in the club licensing or not? If the club was truly adopted by Lobi Stars, how was the ownership or name change to Benue Queens easily and quickly done without recourse to Lobi Stars? And if it is true that the state government is now the owner of the club, which agency of government is supervising it? Till now, no one knows those who are managing the club. If the club is owned by the government, isn’t Governor Hyacinth Alia worried by the poor performances of the team? These questions are endless.
So, it is clear that Benue Queens came into existence without the much needed blessing and input from some of the renowned women football stakeholders, and they are not happy. Those who believe they have paid their dues as far as women’s football in the state is concerned feel that the person behind the birth of the club should have invited some of them to come and share their knowledge and experience on how best to produce a formidable women’s team that would stand the test of time. So, feeling completely undermined and neglected, the women football stakeholders decided to wait for the outcome of the fire brigade approach.
Unfortunately, the effect is already before us as the Benue Queens have not shown any capacity to compete among the best clubs in the country. Their quality is far below the level of even amateur clubs. If the promoters of Benue Queens are neither disappointed nor ashamed of what they have produced in the name of a women’s football club, the people are feeling so embarrassed, and the reason is not far-fetched. Apart from the well-known football stars it has produced, the state has contributed so many talented women football players to the different national teams.
Benue State can boast of superstars in women’s football, like Martha Tarhemba Makir, the first national team player from the North, and Francisca Ordega, who has played for all the women national teams of Nigeria. In fact, she has played professional football in all the continents of the world. There is also Soo Adekwagh, Loveth Ngusurun Ayila, and presently, Adoo Philomina Yina, Josephine Mathias of Nasarawa United and Super Falcons, as well as Paulina Ali, who recently joined a Portuguese club, FCF Famalicao from Naija Ratels. This underscores the fact that Benue is blessed with talented women football players.
Therefore, it is disturbing that a team from this same state is putting up such shambolic performances. It means that there is something fundamentally wrong with the club. It could be that while trying to give Benue a club in the women’s topflight, due process wasn’t followed. Since anything built on a faulty foundation is bound to crumble in due time, the Queens are wobbling and fumbling.
The only way forward is to return to the drawing board to address the lingering issues. Maybe a meeting of all the relevant football stakeholders in the state should be held to deliberate on the future of the club. And if the woeful performances continue, those who have brought this shame on Benue shouldn’t feel too proud to withdraw the team from the league.
It is better to pull out and restart from the first step. Maybe in the amateur division, those saddled with the management of the club would scout around for young and talented girls who abound in the state, to be developed. By the time they have garnered the necessary experience and exposure, they would be better prepared to compete at the higher level.
On its part, the government shouldn’t watch idly as the club continues to embarrass the state, week in, week out with poor results. If indeed the government approved for Benue Queens to take the slot of Honey Badgers in the NWFL, it should immediately demand to know why the club is seriously underperforming.