THIS year’s edition of the annual Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards could hardly have gone any better for Nigeria. At the ceremony which took place last Monday at the Palais des Congrès in Marrakech, Morocco, Atalanta FC striker Ademola Lookman, Paris FC goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, and the female national team, the Super Falcons, all crowned a glorious night for the country with the Player of the Year, Best Goalkeeper and National Teams of the Year awards, respectively.
Lookman’s award makes it the second time that Nigeria has won the award back-to-back (Victor Osimhen, currently on the books of Turkish giants Galatasaray, took the award home last year), following the exploits of Rashidi Yekini and Emmanuel Amuneke in 1993 and 1994. Goaltender Nnadozie is no stranger to excellence herself, having won the same award last year. This year, she rode to the award on the back of a series of show-stopping performances in the French Première Ligue and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Over the past two decades, the Super Falcons have been the undoubted overlords of women’s soccer on the continent, claiming 11 out of a possible 14 titles since the Africa Cup of Nations began in 1991. We join the Shehu Dikko-led National Sports Commission (NSC) in congratulating these richly deserving awardees and urge them to take their individual honors as a challenge to aspire even to greater heights.
While we heartily congratulate all the award winners, we crave the indulgence of our readers to single out Ademola Lookman for special commendation. Although the London-born Lookman is only 27, with his best football hopefully still ahead of him, his journey to the top of the global game has been a study in perseverance in the face of constant disappointment. Since 2015 when a clearly precocious Lookman broke into the first team at Charlton Athletic in the third tier of English football, he has changed clubs several times, until 2022 when he joined Atalanta, a union that has brought bountiful blessings to both player and club. Lookman played a key role in Atalanta’s historic 2024 UEFA Europa League victory, scoring a hat-trick in the final to secure the club’s first trophy in 61 years. Since joining the club, he has scored 43 goals in 97 games.
The point we wish to highlight about Lookman’s career is that at any point during that long stretch between 2015 and 2022, when he had more clubs than shirts, he could have been forgiven for packing it all up. That he did not is a testament to his forbearance and self-belief. This is a lesson that members of the younger generation should take to heart.
Finally, and while not wishing to rain on the parade of the award winners, we wish to underscore the uncomfortable fact that Ademola Lookman was born in England, speaks with a distinct London accent, and would arguably not be in the position he currently is without the opportunities on offer in his country of birth. Would Lookman have made his way to the top without his British ancestry and the advantages that come with it? Last year’s winner, Victor Osimhen, though Lagos-born, also plies his wares outside the country, same as Nnadozie, who hails from Orlu in Imo State.
The celebration of these individuals’ accomplishments should not blind anyone to the pertinent issues raised about the organisation of Nigerian sports, and its politics and social life in general.
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