Nigeria’s Super Eagles will take centre stage on Saturday in Marrakech, chasing a semi-final place as AFCON 2025 intensifies with a heavyweight quarter-final clash.

Three-time champions Nigeria meet 2019 winners Algeria at the 45,000-capacity Grand Stade de Marrakech, with pride, history and momentum at stake.

Both teams advanced from the group stage with perfect records, the only sides to do so, but knockout football leaves no room for past achievements.

Nigeria arrived as the tournament favourites after scoring 12 goals and conceding four, including a commanding 4-0 Round of 16 win over Mozambique.

Super Eagles coach, Eric Chelle has played down expectations, insisting focus must remain firmly on the immediate challenge.

He said, “I only think about Marrakech,” Chelle said. “There is a game to play. After that, we can think about the next step.

“The story starts in Marrakech,” he added. “Training, focus and the next game – that is all that matters now.”

In spite of reports of unpaid bonuses and minor on-field disagreements, players insisted that unity within the Nigerian camp remained intact.

On the pitch, Nigeria looked revitalised, combining pace, power and purpose under Chelle’s pragmatic leadership.

Ademola Lookman has been Nigeria’s standout performer, recording three goals and five assists to emerge as the tournament’s most productive player.

Victor Osimhen has also scored three goals, moving within three of Nigeria’s all-time AFCON scoring record of 37 goals.

Akor Adams added fresh impetus with his first AFCON goal against Mozambique, further strengthening Nigeria’s attacking options.

However, defensive lapses remained a concern, with Nigeria conceding four goals in four matches ahead of their sternest test yet.

Midfield anchors Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi have driven Nigeria’s intensity, though Ndidi, Frank Onyeka and Calvin Bassey are on suspension alert.

History provides mixed comfort. Nigeria and Algeria have met 21 times, with Nigeria winning nine, Algeria seven, and five encounters drawn.

Algeria famously eliminated Nigeria 2-1 in the 2019 AFCON semi-final, sealed by Riyad Mahrez’s stoppage-time free-kick.

The Desert Warriors arrive seeking redemption after group-stage exits at the last two AFCON tournaments.

Coach Vladimir Petković sees reaching the quarter-finals as merely the foundation of a rebuilding journey.

“Qualifying was important, but it is the minimum,” Petković said. “Now our focus is Nigeria. Rebuilding means responsibility, courage and unity.”

Under Petković, Algeria had recorded 19 wins in 24 matches, signalling steady recovery since their 2019 triumph.

He said, “I never promise trophies,” he added. “What I promise is pride, courage and unity. Without unity, success is impossible.”

Algeria edged DR Congo 1-0 after extra time in the Round of 16, Adil Boulbina striking decisively in the 119th minute.

Defensive discipline underpins their campaign, conceding just one goal in four matches, with goalkeeper Luca Zidane in fine form.

Zinedine Zidane had watched every Algeria match from the stands, lending symbolic weight to their quiet resurgence.

Captain Riyad Mahrez, 34, remains influential, scoring three goals and guiding a squad blending experience with youth.

Baghdad Bounedjah, Ismaël Bennacer and Ramy Bensebaini bring winning pedigree, while Fares Chaibi adds youthful drive.

Mahrez expects another tight encounter. “Nigeria? We know them well. The match won’t be easy. Anything is possible,” he said.

Nigeria had reached the AFCON semi-finals a joint-record 16 times, often thriving when the pressure is highest.

Should the Super Eagles advance, they will face either hosts Morocco or Cameroon, reviving memories of the historic 1988 AFCON.

Thirty-eight years ago in Rabat, Nigeria edged Algeria on penalties before losing a controversial final to Cameroon.

On Saturday, history, ambition and belief collide again in Marrakech, as Nigeria seek progress and Algeria chase redemption.

By Jeff Ukachukwu

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023, Nigeria’s aviation industry, sprawling across five international gateways and serving as a vital corridor for Africa’s largest population, grappled with a labyrinth of ageing facilities, trapped foreign airline funds, and shaken investor confidence. Airlines frequently complained about terminals whose design flaws created more headaches than they solved; pilgrims endured makeshift tents in the sweltering heat; and several global carriers quietly scaled back operations when attempting to repatriate ticket revenue, which turned into a bureaucratic marathon. Into this turbulence stepped Festus Keyamo SAN, CON, FCIArb (UK), sworn in on August 21, 2023, as Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development. Known more for his courtroom tenacity than for airline diplomacy, Keyamo accepted a deceptively simple brief from the President: “Put Nigeria back on the aviation map.”

Twenty-two months later, that map tells a markedly different story —one of brisk fixes, structural reforms, and a revitalised sense of possibility.
Keyamo’s first week set the tone for the rest of the year. The gleaming new international terminal at Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA) in Lagos—opened in March 2022 but quickly sidelined because of design flaws—had become a costly white elephant. Within a month of taking office, the Minister mandated that every international airline migrate to the new facility. Under his direction, engineers rerouted the awkward taxi paths and relocated the baggage systems, successfully ironing out the teething problems that had plagued its opening. By October 2023, the terminal was handling 4,000 daily passengers with the ease that its Chinese builders had initially envisioned. “We couldn’t afford optics without efficiency,” Keyamo quipped at the reopening. “Airports are billboards of national competence.”

Encouraged by that early success, he turned his attention to what had long been a dull, cramped exit point at MMIA: the Wing E arrival hall. Once a poorly lit maze of customs desks, this hall was transformed into a modern concourse bathed in natural light, outfitted with biometric e-gates and dotted with duty-free boutiques. Crucially, this overhaul was funded through a public-private partnership, a clear signal that federal coffers could no longer be expected to underwrite every infrastructural fix.
Keyamo’s vision extended beyond Lagos.

Pilgrims travelling to Mecca had for years endured substandard Hajj terminals in cities like Kano, Sokoto, and Ilorin. Many recount eight-hour waits under tarpaulin tents; thanks to the Minister’s directive, those spaces have been replaced by climate-controlled halls where pilgrims can rest and process their documents in dignity. During the spring 2024 inspection tours, Keyamo handed out Ihram kits and listened attentively to the stories of hardship from elderly travellers. “This is national service,” he remarked, “as much as it is spiritual service.”

While upgrading physical infrastructure was crucial, resolving lingering financial issues proved equally urgent. Keyamo’s most applauded feat may have been unlocking over $831 million in trapped revenue owed to foreign airlines. By collaborating closely with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he devised a phased payout schedule that converted the backlog of unsurrendered ticket revenue at a blended rate and then secured cabinet approval to treat future ticket sales as priority foreign exchange (FX) items. Airlines that had once labelled Nigeria’ too high risk’ began to reassess: within weeks, several carriers restored previously axed routes, restocking planes that had sat idle for months. The resolution of these financial issues must have brought a sense of relief and reassurance to these airlines, restoring their confidence in the Nigerian market. ‘Nigeria went from our riskiest receivable to a model of structured settlement,’ observed Vinod Kannan, CEO of Singapore-based Scoot.

Not content to cede money to foreign carriers, Keyamo also sought ways to generate revenue domestically. In January 2024, the federal government, at his prompting, rolled out an e-tag system for VIP access at airport toll gates. The initiative generated roughly ₦2.8 billion in its first ten months—funds that were used to expand perimeter fencing, upgrade cargo sheds, and initiate cybersecurity measures at regional aerodromes. While some critics baulked at charging VIPs to skip traffic jams, the Minister argued that infrastructure funds must come from within, and that could not happen without creative monetisation.

Economic credibility extended to reforming Nigeria’s standing on the Cape Town Convention, a global treaty that governs aircraft leasing and financing. When Keyamo assumed office, Nigeria had a compliance score of 49.5 per cent, which earned the country a spot on the Aviation Working Group’s watchlist of non-compliant nations. By November 2023, a new Practice Direction—streamlining the legal framework for dry leasing aircraft—catapulted the score to 70.5. Then, in March 2024, the long-delayed Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA) rules were signed, resulting in another five-point boost. Within twenty-four hours, the AWG announced that Nigeria’s score had risen to 75.5 per cent, officially removing the country from the watchlist.

Overnight, aircraft lessors slashed the “Nigeria risk” premium, and interest rates on new narrow-body leases fell to levels previously reserved for Gulf carriers. The shift helped domestic airlines secure better terms and refresh ageing fleets with more modern aircraft.
Keyamo’s reforms also aimed to break monopolies and open up the skies, which had long frustrated Nigerian travellers. For years, London-bound passengers were limited to flights on British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, with fares hovering at punitive levels because competition was effectively nonexistent. That changed on March 30, 2024, when Air Peace, armed with newly secured reciprocal rights, took to the tarmac at Gatwick. Within six weeks, average economy fares from Lagos to London fell by nearly 25 per cent as the duopoly watched from the terminal window. This sudden drop in fares and the emergence of new carriers must have been a breath of fresh air for Nigerian travellers, signalling a more competitive and affordable future in air travel.

Across the Atlantic, negotiations to reactivate the US–Nigeria “Open Skies” agreement finally bore fruit in February 2025, ending a 22-year logjam. Under the deal, Nigerian carriers can now fly unrestricted frequencies to multiple US destinations. Within weeks of activation, Green Africa—a nascent low-cost carrier—applied for Houston slots. This kind of ambition, once inconceivable, has become a realistic target for a market that Keyamo repeatedly described as “both under-served and under-valued.”

Diplomacy brought another milestone on October 2, 2024, when Emirates Airlines resumed daily flights between Dubai, Lagos, and Abuja. The Doha–Abuja corridor is one of West Africa’s busiest, and Emirates suspended service in mid-2022 amid the controversy over trapped funds. Within days of its return, Emirates executives met with Keyamo and five Nigerian carriers to discuss code-sharing frameworks, signalling that Nigeria was not only a destination to serve but a partner to court. Shortly thereafter, negotiations between Emirates and local operators intensified, with code-share agreements poised to expand connectivity beyond West Africa to Southeast Asia and Australasia.

That same spirit of collaboration took Keyamo to Seattle in November 2024, where he led a delegation of prominent Nigerian airline CEOs to the Boeing headquarters. There, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to establish a pipeline for aircraft acquisition, conduct joint safety audits, and establish a new finishing school for Nigerian maintenance engineers. Riding on an invitation from Boeing, this visit underscored that, under Keyamo’s watch, Nigeria was viewed as more than just a market—it was a potential partner in co-designing the next generation of Africa’s fleet. “We’re not shopping for jets,” he told reporters. “We’re co-creating an ecosystem.”

Numbers underline the story of transformation. In the first four months of 2023, Nigeria handled approximately 2.1 million international passengers; by April 2025, that figure had increased to 2.9 million—a 38 per cent rise. Non-aeronautical revenue for FAAN was ₦44 billion in the same January–April window of 2023; by 2025, it had increased to ₦61 billion, a 39 per cent rise, primarily due to e-tag fees and the expansion of retail outlets at terminals. Equally striking is the leap in Cape Town Convention compliance from 49.5 per cent to 75.5 per cent. Lagos-to-London return fares, once averaging US $1,100, stabilised around $820 after Air Peace’s London launch. These numbers reflect a market regaining confidence.

Yet turbulence persists. Jet-A1 prices remain hostage to global crude markets; secondary airports in places like Yola and Maiduguri continue to rely on antiquated radar systems. Meanwhile, some state legislators grumble that e-tag toll proceeds should fuel state-level infrastructure rather than line federal coffers. Environmental sustainability poses the next frontier: as airlines globally lean into sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and carbon-offset programs, Nigeria must catch up or risk losing route privileges in Europe and North America. The lingering question of Nigeria Air—a long-discussed but perpetually delayed national carrier—remains unresolved.

Keyamo has been characteristically noncommittal, hinting at a “re-think” rather than a reboot; industry analysts believe this restraint is prudent, arguing that a state-sponsored carrier would only distort a market that today thrives on private-sector dynamism.
Festus Keyamo’s first twenty-four months in office read like a master class in decisive governance: fix the broken terminal, pay the stranded dollar, and codify rules that global financiers trust. Detractors argue that some of his wins were low-hanging fruit left to rot by predecessors; champions counter that fruit still spoils if left unpicked.

Either way, the passenger experience tells the most vivid story. On a humid Thursday in April 2025, a grandmother rolled a trolley through the revamped Lagos arrival hall, streamed through an e-gate fingerprint scan, and emerged into the embrace of waiting family—all in under fifteen minutes. “It wasn’t like this last year,” she told her family. Her verdict may be the loudest metric: in an industry where perception equals profit, Nigeria’s aviation brand has, at least for now, shed the dust of its old reputation and begun to wear a fresh coat of credibility. For the moment, Festus Keyamo and his team see a sector once stalled at the gate steadily climbing toward cruising altitude. Under his stewardship, Nigeria’s skies no longer feel foreboding—they feel limitless!

Dr Jeff Ukachukwu is a public affairs analyst. He writes in from Lagos. (Jeffuka@gmail.com)