Ayo Ositelu
More Nigerians have continued to extol the virtues of the late sports analyst, Mr. Ayo Ositelu, describing him as a man who contributed immensely to the growth of sports.
They paid their tributes at a service of songs organised for him by the Lagos State Government at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Many of them who were his contemporaries said he was a man of “great visionary leadership.”
Ewa Henshaw, former Nigeria Cricket Federation Development Manager, said his friendship with the deceased spanned over 30 years without blemish. Henshaw, now the Secretary, Adopt-A-Talent of the Lagos State Grassroots Sports Development Programme, said, “We were close friends during our secondary school days. Ositelu was a student of Igbobi College and I was at Kings College Lagos. We spent a lot of time together almost 20 hours together, especially when he came back from the US.
“He was actively involved in football, table tennis, lawn tennis and cricket and his versatility in sports writing was felt across the nation. I am going to truly miss him, he was a dear friend,’’ Henshaw said.
Austin Akosa, former National Secretary, Nigeria Lawn Tennis Association and an old school mate of Ositelu at Igbobi College, said his death was a great loss and thanked God for his good legacies.
“Ayo Ositelu was a friendly man, very unassuming, a gentleman and a pleasant man. His impact was felt when he covered and reported tennis during the early 1970s when I was the National Secretary of the Tennis Association, he projected the sport very well. He gave tennis a good image and up till date, his reputation never dwindled. It’s unfortunate that he is dead; may his gentle soul rest in peace with the Lord,’’ Akosa said.
Former U-20 national football team coach, Tunde Disu, also said that Ositelu was a leader who gave sports in Nigeria a credible image.
“We will miss his clear-cut leadership; he was a very good man that dedicated his lifetime towards projecting sports in Nigeria. His touch of class in his “Arena” column paved the way for many up and coming writers. He had so much to contribute and he did just that,’’ Disu said.