For the first time in a long while, Nigeria is back where the country truly belongs: at the top of Africa.
The ‘giant of Africa’ has been wobbling for some time amid economic hardship and heightened insecurity, but all was forgotten Monday night in Marrakech, Morocco, where the country stood tall.
It was the 2023 CAF Awards for the best footballing achievements of the year across the continent, and Nigeria and Nigerians stole the show, rising above adversity to triumph.
Super Eagles and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen claimed the prestigious African Player of the Year award, ending a 24-year Nigerian drought that began after Nwankwo Kanu won the prize in 1999.
Osimhen, who inspired Napoli to their first Scudetto in 33 years last season with his league-high 26 Serie A goals, and was the top scorer in the qualifying series for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with 10 goals, beat Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi to the biggest award of the night.
The 24-year-old Osimhen was just a toddler when the legendary Kanu won the African Player of the Year award in 1999, but the child of that year has grown to become a man who symbolises the Nigerian spirit of excelling in defiance of the long odds.
Since joining Napoli from Lille in September 2020 for a club record €80 million package, Osimhen has battled serious injuries – including a facial fracture that forced him to wear a protective mask – contracted Covid-19 twice and faced not-so-subtle racism from his own club (that ill-advised TikTok video).
But he has risen back on his feet each time and competed even harder, leading to last night’s triumph for himself, his family and his country.
It has been a year of awards for the resilient Osimhen, who was also named Best Striker by Serie A and voted the Player of the Year by the Italian Footballers Association.
Osimhen, who shot into the limelight as a 16-year-old after scoring a record 10 goals as Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2015, expressed his appreciation to the coach of that team and 1994 African Player of the Year Emmanuel Amuneke for nurturing his talent.
Osimhen also made history by becoming the first player to have won both the African Young Player of the Year award (2015) and the Senior Prize.
Another big Nigerian win was in the Player of the Year (Women), which Asisat Oshoala claimed for a record-extending sixth time.
The next most successful player in the category is also a Nigerian, Super Falcons legend Perpetua Nkwocha, who has won the award four times.
Super Falcons and Barcelona striker Oshoala won the award ahead of South Africa’s Thembi Kgatlana and Barbara Banda of Zambia.
Oshoala, who is 29 years old, previously won the award in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022.
During her short speech, Oshoala called for unity in African football so that the continent can build on the historical semi-final run of Morocco at the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the record progress of the continent’s representatives at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this year.
Oshoala perfectly represents the dominance Nigeria should have in Africa, with the country’s vast human and mineral resources.
She, along with four-time winner Nkwocha, is the real ‘giant of Africa’: relentlessly dominant year after year after year.
Paris FC star Nnadozie, who was outstanding at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and has shone in the UEFA Women’s Champions League this season, won the Goalkeeper of the Year (Women) award ahead of South Africa’s Andile Dlamini and Morocco’s Khadija Er-Rmichi.
Nnadozie, who was Nigeria’s on-field captain at the Women’s World Cup, advised African girls to follow their dreams and never give up, citing her own success after her father’s initial opposition to her aspirations of becoming a football star.
The well-spoken Nnadozie is the totem of the Nigeria of our dreams, the one where the country fights through all the hurdles to become an economic powerhouse with tens of millions of thriving citizens.
If Nnadozie could overcome challenges from her own family to become the best in Africa, what is stopping Nigeria?
Nobody mirrors the average Nigerian more than the Super Falcons, who were named the Women’s National Team of the Year last night.
The team and its players have at times been treated like an afterthought, a minor inconvenience, that last child you did not plan to have but came to the world anyway.
They are paid a pittance in allowances and bonuses compared to the Super Eagles but even the little they are promised is never paid regularly.
The Nigeria Football Federation always owes them money and when they protest, they are accused of being unpatriotic.
But no other national team has brought as much success to the country as the Super Falcons: they have won a record nine African titles and qualified for every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Like the regular Nigerian who just shrugs off the crippling inflation, grossly inadequate healthcare and other forms of underdevelopment and just plods on, the Super Falcons have never let the NFF’s greed and incompetence stop them from making their country proud.
And proud they did make the country last night along with Nnadozie, Osimhen and Oshoala, who turned up and represented their fatherland in its proud green.
Even President Bola Tinubu was impressed and he expressed how proud Osimhen, Oshoala, Nnadozie and the Super Falcons made him and the country.
“I commend the trio of Osimhen, Oshoala and Nnadozie for their outstanding performances on both national and international stages, and for being sources of pride to the nation and an inspiration for aspiring footballers across the continent,” the President wrote today in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Watching the great ambassadors of Nigeria stand atop the podium as the African Footballers of the Year, in the men and women categories, on Monday night in Marrakesh, Morocco, has strengthened our belief that with hard work, perseverance, and the help of God, everything this nation needs for greatness is within us and available to us.
“I commend Victor and Asisat for not forgetting their roots and days of humble beginnings in the game they love so much and for acknowledging the role of indigenous coaches in shaping their careers.
“I join all Nigerian fans in praying that this well-deserved honour will be the beginning of a continued journey filled with success, triumphs and the fulfilment of all your footballing dreams.”
Like TY Bello sang in ‘Greenland’ years ago, the land of Nigeria is indeed green and fertile, and Monday night is a sign that we have the resources to be the best, so long as there is the will to do right and work hard.
The Super Eagles should take this spirit to the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire in January and end another drought: their last continental title was 10 years ago in South Africa.
