The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will this morning present  to the public the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Éric Chelle.

A statement by Ademola Olajire, NFF’s Director of Communications on Sunday said the event is holding at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja by 11 a.m.

Chelle’s appointment was confirmed last week  Tuesday by the NFF Executive Committee, following a recommendation by the football ruling body’s Technical and Development Committee.

The 47-year-old will mount one of the hottest seats in world football, but President of the NFF, Ibrahim Gusau, was quoted on Sunday as saying that the Coach had all it takes to succeed.

“The Franco-Malian embodies the fresh energy, new thinking and positive attitude with which the Federation desire the Super Eagles to confront their remaining six matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

“We appreciate the fact that Nigerians are very passionate about the game of football, and that is the reason for the different tones of reactions following the appointment of Coach Chelle.

“However, the NFF hereby appeals to Nigerians to come together and support him, as we believe he has the qualities to achieve success with the Super Eagles.

“The NFF will give him all the support that he needs to succeed in the job,” Gusau said

At Monday’s unveiling, the NFF will also disclose the names of Coach Chelle’s assistants, with the crew to shepherd the Super Eagles B at next month’s African Nations Championship in East Africa.

This is before focusing squarely on the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, beginning with the matches against Rwanda (away) and Zimbabwe (home) in March.

Nigerian boxer, Anthony Joshua, has paid a visit to President Bola Tinubu at his residence in Lagos.

The two-time world heavyweight champion also present an autograph glove to the President, signed “To the Great Asiwaju Jagaban Borgu of Africa, Bola A Tinubu.”

This was sited in a post by Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Mr. Dada Olusegun.

He wrote, “Champ @anthonyjoshua pays Homage to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at his residence in Lagos. Presents him with his autographed glove.”

Atalanta forward, Ademola Lookman will lead Nigeria’s quest for honours at the CAF Awards in the Moroccan City of Marrakech.

Lookman is in pole position to be crowned the CAF Player of the Year for 2024 following a stunning campaign that saw him win the Europa League where he bagged a historic hat-trick in the final.

Last year, Lookman’s compatriots Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala scooped the men’s and women’s CAF prizes respectively.

In announcing the final shortlist for the men’s prize for this year, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said it was a close call, thus their inability to prune the list to three.

That means Lookman will battle South Africa’s Ronwen Williams; Cote d’Ivoire’s Simon Adingra; Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy and Achraf Hakimi of Morocco for Africa’s top individual football prize.

However, in Morroco on Monday, the Atalanta man is favoured to take the crown from his compatriot Osimhen.

The statistics tell it all! In the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) played earlier in the year, Lookman was an inspirational figure for Nigeria, notching three goals and two assists in seven games as the Super Eagles flew to a second-place finish.

He struck a brace in the last 16 match against Cameroon before bagging the winner in the quarter-final vs Angola.

His performances in Cote d’Ivoire earned him a place in the Team of the Tournament, about two years after he switched allegiance to Nigeria from England.

Lookman followed up the AFCON outing with a historic hat-trick as Atalanta defeated Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final, ending the German side’s unbeaten season run and giving his team their second major crown since 1963.

So far this season, the winger has scored 11 goals and five assists in 18 games across all competitions for his Italian side.

Lookman has also been impressive for the Super Eagles after the AFCON. He was instrumental in the team’s AFCON 2025 qualification, scoring two goals in the process.

Two of his goals were ruled off in controversial conditions during that qualification series.

Nigeria’s forward #18 Ademola Lookman (C) celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Nigeria’s forward #9 Victor Osimhen (R) during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 round of 16 football match between Nigeria and Cameroon at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan on January 27, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

The 27-year-old was the only African in the Ballon d’Or shortlist this year and finished in an impressive 14th place.

Lookman won’t be the only Nigerian going for honours in Morocco. In the women’s category, the soft-spoken Chiamaka Nnadozie will hope to take the Player of the Year award – won six times by Oshoala – back home.

But she faces stiff competition in the mold of Zambia’s Barbra Banda and Moroccan Sanâa Mssoudy.Nnadozie, a key figure for French side Paris FC, helped Nigeria seal an Olympics ticket after a 16-year absence.

The Super Falcon is equally a favourite to retain the Goalkeeper of the Year gong. She is up against Andile Dlamini (South Africa) and Khadija Er-Rmichi of Morocco for that.Falconet’s Chiamaka Okwuchukwu completes Nigeria’s trio of contenders for individual prizes in the CAF Awards for 2024.

She made the final shortlist for the Young Player of the Year (women) after helping Nigeria reach the last eight of this year’s U-20 World Cup in Colombia.

Okwuchukwu also featured in the Nigerian squad that got to the final of the Africa Games.For the team prizes, the Super Eagles and Falcons were nominated for the men’s and women’s teams of the year in that order.

For the former, South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire are contenders while the latter has Morocco, South Africa, Zambia, and the Cameroon U-20 side.

Edo Queens who got to the semi-final of the CAF Women’s Champions League in their debut also earned a spot in the Women’s Club of the Year category.

As the world eagerly awaits the 2024 CAF Awards ceremony, all eyes will be on Lookman to lead his home country to glory in the imperial Moroccan city of Marrakech.