Plateau United’s 2017 Champions Still Await Lalong’s Promised Rewards

Former Plateau United midfielder, Jerome Dung, has voiced his frustration over unfulfilled promises made to the 2017 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) title-winning squad by then-Governor Simon Bako Lalong.

Dung, a key member of the historic team, revealed that eight years after the triumph, the players and technical crew are yet to receive the ₦1.5 million each and plots of land in Jos that were pledged. The then-technical adviser, Kennedy Boboye, was promised ₦2.5 million, while other staff were to get ₦2 million each.

Speaking via social media, Dung lamented the struggles faced by many of his former teammates, some of whom are now retired and experiencing financial hardship. He cited the late Coach Audu Pele, who passed away after being unable to access medical care, as an example of the neglect. “This is the reality some of my teammates and coaches are living. It is painful that a landmark achievement for Plateau State is remembered with broken promises,” he said.

Dung, who played for Plateau United between 2014 and 2020 before moving to Switzerland in 2022, called on current Governor Caleb Mutfwang to step in and fulfil the pledges. He stressed that although 23 of the 45 players were not indigenes of Plateau, they fought hard to bring glory to the state. Plateau United’s 2017 NPFL victory remains the club’s first-ever league title, a milestone celebrated across Nigeria.