The FAME Foundation, advocating for the girl child and women’s rights, on Friday, organised its ninth annual football tournament in Abuja to mark the 2026 International Women’s Day celebration.

Held at the Area 3 Football Pitch, the 2026 FAME Women’s Day Football Tournament featured 13 amateur women’s teams, including Nigeria Revenue Service, ASWHAN, FIDA, Bet9ja Foundation, IDPs, Unity, National Youth Service Corps, FAME Foundation, CORE, Pro Social, NCWS and Nigerian Union of Teachers.

The minister for women affairs and social development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, the chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, and others attended the event.

Ms Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the government will continue to support the FAME Foundation to improve the lives of Nigerian women, while lauding President Bola Tinubu for focusing on issues affecting women.

“As you are aware, Nigerian women are phenomenal. They are energetic and smart, so we have to engage them from every angle. Mr President has made issues surrounding women the centre, not an afterthought.

“This is unprecedented. We must thank him. We will continue to support the FAME Foundation to ensure that women’s innovations and creativity are being supported. I want to appreciate Mr President because the women’s agenda has never seen this level of domestic investment,” the minister stated.

Ms Sulaiman-Ibrahim also applauded the participants in the tournament for showing up, highlighting the achievements of women in the Nigerian sports sector.

“I applaud the team for also showing up, and I see winners in all of them because when I asked them if they were going to win, they all said yes. We are recording significant success in the sports sector. As you are aware, our Falcons and D’Tigress have dominated Africa consecutively for 10 years. We are leading in the sports industry. Not just in football and basketball but in other sports, women have continued to pave the way,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Aderonke Atoyebi, the executive director of FAME Foundation, reiterated the importance of sports in fostering national unity. She assured that the foundation will continue to empower Nigerian women.

“This is the ninth edition of this tournament. We started at the national stadium, and we have had thousands turn out every year. The aim is that Nigeria is heterogeneous, and the only thing that unites Nigerians is sports.  Whenever any of the national teams are playing, no one cares about religion, tribe or state, so we feel like this is a very good tool to bring people together.

“We can see women from different tribes, religions and ethnicities coming together to embrace themselves because we are doing sports. This is why we are doing this to drive social change, especially unity and inclusion.

“What pushes me is the willingness of women to play football. The willingness to come together on a day like this to play sports. We are not going to stop, and we are going to continue,” Ms Atoyebi stated.

Commenting on the relationship between the civil society organisations and the government, Ms Atoyebi stated, “CSOs cannot do anything without the government. We are there to put them on their feet and collaborate with the government. So as a CSO or NGO, we are here to drive policies, to push the government to implement the right policies that will benefit the society, and we are here to checkmate them.”