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NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s leading online newspaper. Published by Africa’s international award-winning journalist, Mr. Isaac Umunna, NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s first truly professional online daily newspaper. It is published from Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and media hub, and has a provision for occasional special print editions. Thanks to our vast network of sources and dedicated team of professional journalists and contributors spread across Nigeria and overseas, NEWS EXPRESS has become synonymous with newsbreaks and exclusive stories from around the world.
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Nigeria forward Oluwakemi Adegbuyi has enjoyed a remarkable year, emerging as one of the country’s brightest young football talents following a series of impressive individual and team achievements.
The 16-year-old began her remarkable run with FC Robo Queens, winning the Nigeria Women Football League Player of the Season award for the 2025/26 campaign after scoring 11 goals across the regular season and Super Six playoffs.
She followed that achievement with two more individual honours, winning the Player of the Tournament awards at the WAFU B Girls’ Cup and the WAFU B Champions League qualifiers, where she represented Edo Queens.
Adegbuyi capped her outstanding year by helping Nigeria’s Flamingos win the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, becoming the first African nation to lift the title. She featured in all seven matches as Nigeria made history at the tournament, scoring two goals.
With her ambitions extending beyond her current achievements, Adegbuyi says she is determined to establish herself on the global stage.
“I can play anytime, any day. When I am called upon, I will surely deliver. My aim is to be in a bigger place, to be known in Nigeria, in Africa and the whole wide world,” she told content creator Femi Pereira in a recent interview.
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Asked if she envisaged winning the CAF Women’s Player of the Year award in the future, the teenager responded confidently: “Yes.”
Her immediate ambition, however, could be another individual recognition at the continental level, with Adegbuyi hoping to win the CAF Women’s Young Player of the Year award when the 2026 ceremony holds in Lagos on Monday, December 7.
She is one of two Nigerians shortlisted for the award, alongside fellow forward Janet Akekoromowei.
The Nigerian duo will face competition from Romaine Gandonou (Benin), Maëva Nyadjou (Cameroon), Grace-Ruth Sery (Côte d’Ivoire), N’Sira Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso), Rose Kadzere (Malawi), Kautar Azraf (Morocco), Adji Ndiaye (Senegal) and Winfrida Gerald (Tanzania). (PUNCH)
