Nigeria, CAF, Francophone & African Player Of The Year

By Ikenwa Nnabuogor

Monday night Marakesh, Morocco went down in African football history as yet another memorable CAF event an African player of extra ordinary quality for the 2024 year under review crowned Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman as the new African player of the year.

The fiery Atalanta Bergamo winger winged it out of Marakesh a proud African prince with the King’s Stool, beaming smiles, sporting colourful green colour traditional paraphernalia fitting the newly coronated King.

Lookman stormed the beautiful Moroccan city flanked by his parents whose presence added more beautiful colour to the grand event.

The former Leicester City star succeeded his compatriot Victor Osihmen, who also swaggered away a handsome prince with the crown last year, breaking an unforgettable 24-year Nigerian duck, since Nwankwo Kanu, then of Arsenal, became the last “King Jaja of Opobo” in 1999.

Lookman, red hot favourite, looked set to succeed his Super Eagles team mate as the notorious Francophone theories threatened to upset the grand order.

But that wasn’t to be as Lookman smiled home even convincing the world’s most vicious cynics he was the man for the coveted prize.

With Francophone theories bandied about again as the home hit home stretch, like Osihmen, he faced contenders, hot among them was the same name, Achraf Hakimi.

The Morocco international, who like Lookman switched allegiances, now with PSG had his name variously bandied about in the Francophone territories as also deserving of the coveted prize.

The Moroccan right back had defected to France after meeting a tough Osihmen wall at the 2023 CAF Awards arena while spotting the colours of Borussia Dortmund.

Kites were flown by the Francophone as they had always done in the past, to put Hakimi forward ahead of Osihmen but the forces behind Osihmen were too hot for the sectional favouritism to run aground as Osihmen blazed through. The Galatasaray bomber then in the colours of Napoli was just too good for even the uninterested to get interested.

The Francophone sang another song as always, which they covered from an unknown singer, putting Hakimi and Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy forward as better candidates for the “clear” winner Lookman, whose performances alone need no other contender to hand him the prize.

Hakimi, for one, was reported to be flown in a private jet to Morocco tonight alongside PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, suggesting he could be a surprise winner ahead of favourite, Lookman.

What could that have meant if not that Francophone had “ganged” up again to favour their own with this news?

The only significant achievement Hakimi held closest to his chest in the year under review, was the Olympic bronze medal he guided his country’s Olympic team to in Paris earlier this year.

Argument was that is this enough to land him the Africa’s biggest individual honour vis-a-vis Lookman that fired his country to a silver finish in this year’s African Cup of Nations finals, which was considered high above other achievements?

But all that was in vain as Lookman deservedly added the continent’s biggest individual honour to cabinet.

The Francophone have also in the past demonstrated that achievement at the African apex competition may not really be the top criterion to hand prizes to the most deserving.

Former Eagles’ captains Austin Jay Jay Okocha and John Obi Mikel were exceptional at AFCONs 2004 and 2013 but the awards went to French-speaking Samuel Eto’O and Yaya Toure.

But that will not have any place in Lookman’s bag, as the undisputed king of football in Africa 2024, swept Hakimi and Guirassy under his feet and escaped to Bergamo with the award.

Lookman’s records have been set, intimidating, put in the Lookman cabinets, retrieved for reviews and it all turned Lookman positive.

For the records, which. CAF President, South Africa’s Patrice Motsepe pointed out before the grand prize was awarded, is determined by voting from the CAF’s member nations’ national teams as well as the captains of the national team.

With the Francophone having more nations, ruling out favouritism and mischievousness among these voters to vote the Angloplone players down could be easily wished away.

This has subtly and openly played out before and it’s still playing out.

The mischief never saw the light of the day tonight, Lookman’s king’s stool has long been decorated in green and white Nigeria’s colours.

Otherwise will openly burst open the lid of shame and ridicule in African football.

At least, Lookman saved Africa from being turned into the joke of the world if the award was mischievously switched.