Ajibade, Gift charge Robo Queens ahead NWFL opener

Former players Rasheedat Ajibade and Gift Monday have urged Robo Queens’ current squad to give their all in the 2025/26 Nigeria Women’s Football League season, which begins on Wednesday (today) across the country, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Robo Queens, who are in Group B for the new campaign, will face promoted Sunshine Queens in their first game of the season in Akure today.

Both players had their breakthroughs at the Lagos-based club before securing moves to Europe.

Ajibade, now captain of the Super Falcons, earned invitations to the U-17, U-20 and senior national teams during her nine-year spell with the club.
She left in 2018 after signing a two-year deal with Norwegian side Avaldsnes and later spent five years at Atlético Madrid Women before joining PSG Women in the summer of 2025.

“The new season is a new opportunity to rewrite your chapter. My greatest advice for you is to make every opportunity count. You also need to know that there is unity in oneness, this is more important than any formation. Work hard for one another and celebrate yourselves. I am proud of everyone of you and I will be cheering you from afar. Go out there and play with courage,” she said in a video shared on Robo Queens FC’s Facebook page.

Gift, after rising through the ranks at FC Robo, went on loan to Bayelsa Queens in 2022, where she scooped all the individual awards during the NWFL Super 6, powering Bayelsa Queens to the title.

She scored nine goals in five Super Six matches and was named the NWFL top scorer with 12 goals, Player of the Match in the final, and Player of the Tournament during the closing ceremony.

In her goodwill message, she urged the players to set high targets.

“I want to use this medium to encourage you guys as you are about to start your season. I want you to go out there and play with your heart, give it your all. If you can dream it, you can win it,” she said.

Gift moved to Spain in 2022, joining Tenerife, where she spent three years before her latest move to the Washington Spirit in the USA’s NWSL.

Aside from Ajibade and Gift, six-time CAF Women’s Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala is also a product of Robo Queens. She featured prominently for the club before moving to Rivers Angels, where she earned a transfer to Liverpool Ladies.