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By Arinze Ude

Born October 20 1992, Musa started his career at Jos, his place of birth, with Aminchi Football Academy before being loaned out to JUTH and then Kano Pillars in the Nigerian Premier League. At Kano Pillars, he set a league record with 18 goals as Pillars finished second. Musa held the record for the highest goals ever scored in one season in the history of the Nigeria Premier League until November 2011 when Jude Aneke of Kaduna United F.C. set a new goals record of 20 goals. He joined VVV Venlo in Holland before transferring to CSKA Moscow in Russia. After helping Nigeria B-team win the 2010 WAFU Cup, Musa was called up to join the Nigeria national football team camp prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was however forced out of the world cup 30-man roster due to an ankle injury. He made his bow for the senior side against Madagascar, coming on as a substitute for John Mikel Obi in a 2-0 AFCON qualifier win. He scored his first goal for Nigeria in a friendly against Kenya in 2011. That same year, he played for the U-20 team at the African Youth Championsip and World Youth Championship in South Africa and Colombia respectively. He was included by FIFA in shortlist of 10 candidates for the Adidas Golden Ball, which was awarded to the most outstanding player of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. He was one of the four nominees named for the Confederation of African Football Most Promising Talent Award, however the award went to Tottenham Hotspur’s Souleymane Coulibaly. He was named in the squad for the 2013 African Nations Cup. He started the opening game against Burkina Faso and has one goal to his name, with his lone strike coming against Mali in the semi-final. Due to an ankle injury sustained in the semi-final match he did not make the starting line at the final and substituted for Ike Uche in the second half to ensure Nigeria’s victory.

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This article was first published on 22nd February 2013

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Chojare Pamela Agboga is a Legal Practitioner, Writer, Editor, Chartered Secretary and Administrator. She is currently working on her first novel 'Weekends are for Loving' as well as a devotional for women.