African women continue to break new ground and the appointment of Faith Ben-Anuge as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Nigeria’s Women’s Football League (NWFL) is a recent addition to the list.
Ben-Anuge who is the first woman to hold the office of COO of the league body, served as the head of NFF women’s football and administrator of the Nigerian U20 women’s team before becoming the administrator of the senior team.
Her appointments were followed with a trail of success as the U20 team reached the finals of the Women’s World Cup in 2010 and 2014 in Germany and Canada respectively. The Super Falcons (senior women’s team) also took the Africa Women’s Cup home in 2016 under Ben-Anuge’s watch.
The just-appointed COO is undoubtedly one of the best administrators in women’s football in Nigeria. She expressed her eagerness to take up the role and also highlighted what she has in store.
“I feel very honored and privileged to have been appointed as the first woman since 2017,” Ben-Anuge told Goal News.
“They should expect some level of expertise in the administration of our women’s football which of course should be in sync with global practices,” she added, “we will try our best to improve on the image of our women league in the global scene because the world is a global village and football works better with technology as rebranding our league will be the major focus.
“I am ready to serve and would be relying on the cooperation of the clubs and the NWFL board in achieving set goals and objectives. I will do my best as the COO to give attention to the welfare of the players liaison with the clubs to ensure that this is done both medically and legally when it comes to transfers, registrations and payments.”
Women know women’s issues better and having a female COO at the NWFL league will come with a lot of benefits. Ben-Anuge has already resumed her duties in preparation for the 2021 season.
Phoebie Shamiso Chigonde is a journalist passionate about gender equality, social development programmes and grassroots-based solution seeking initiatives. She has a passion for women and community development. Phoebie is also a radio personality at a regional commercial radio station, a platform that enables her to network with like-minded women, journalists and activists as she continues to document and tell the story of the ordinary woman from the lens of that very ordinary woman.