All is down to high stakes tonight at the 2024 CAF Awards setting up a stage in Marrakesh, Morocco. Monday 16 December as intended by the organisers will be a celebration of African football excellence over a year duration and six spots in total are having the Nigeria side of Africa competing in them.

The Nigerian fans that will be tuning in to a satellite broadcast of the Confederation of African Football-powered accolade night will see themselves represented via two nominations from the Men’s Category and double of that number with the Women’s setup – mixing exemplary player features with enviable milestone within an institution.

Within the Nigeria women’s national football team, nicknamed the Super Falcons, goalkeeping is at its best with Chiamaka Nnadozie never tiring of being nominated for an award. This year, she gets Goalkeeper of the Year and Player of the Year nominations for being exceptional in her performances over the last 12 months.

Staking bench

Last year had its own set of achievements for the French league-playing Nnadozie and one of those was winning the CAF Goalkeeper of the Year (Women).

Will the 24-year-old have a repeat? She has been vital as the mostly reliable safe hand in any team she finds herself, including when she is with her club side Paris FC in Viry-Châtillon.

The complete list showing where Nigerians have been nominated is shown after this line.

Ademola Lookman – Player of the Year nominee (men)

Chiamaka Nnadozie – Player of the Year nominee- (women)

Chiamaka Nnadozie – Goalkeeper of the Year nominee- (women)

Nigeria Super Eagles – Team of the Year nominee (men)

Super Falcons – Team of the Year nominee (women)

Edo Queens FC – Club of the Year nominee (women)

Perhaps it is the interesting fact that sports presenters have been spotted wearing their prediction hats, which quite very strongly suggests an Ademola Lookman Player of the Year show, that seems the outstanding focus heading to Monday evening in Marrakesh.

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Best bet

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which runs everything soccer in the country, also has a belief that its person will get it.

Although the forward and Atalanta FC in Italy nominee faces stiff competition from players like Achraf Hakimi, Simon Adingra, Serhou Guirassy, and Ronwen Williams, there is a sense that he will probably beat the rest.

Is he the best? That’s subjective and depends on individual opinions. But his impressive stats and contributions certainly make a strong case for him. It is for being instrumental in Nigeria’s journey to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final, scoring three goals and providing two assists.

In this current term, the statistics have maintained a promising look. So far, 11 goals and five assists in 18 appearances for Atalanta, added with a crucial goal scored against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League last week, has been credited to Lookman’s name.

Catch CAF Awards here

The live broadcast via CAF media partners SuperSport and AfroSport are not the only place to catch presenters Kate Scott and Jalal Bouzrara as both are hosting tonight.

Fans who will also get a mix of culture with the sports as will be seen when Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz and Morocco’s Dystinct, among several other musicians take the stage, can get on CAF’s YouTube channel as an alternative.

When they search CAFTV via the YouTube pane, it will bring the result. The right one is when they have clicked on a channel that reveals 2.1million subscribers engaging and has helped generate up to 323 million video views on the platform.

Every road connects as long as they have internet data on their smart devices.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.