Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Seyi Akinwumi, on Wednesday described Deji Tinubu’s death as a colossal loss to sports in Lagos State.
Akinwumi, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Lagos State Football (LSFA), made the comment in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Tinubu was Special Assistant on Sports to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos before he was redeployed to the ministry of commerce and industry as a special adviser earlier in January.
He slumped while participating in a novelty football match during a retreat with some members of the Lagos State Executive Council at the Jubilee Chalets in Epe on January 25.
Mr Akinwunmi said that Tinubu’s achievement would be difficult to match because of the passion he had for grassroots sports development in Lagos, especially in policy formulation and implementation.
His words: “Deji was like a brother to me and we have been friends right from our youth, fortunately we found ourselves in the same business of sports.
“He was a man closer to me than associates. He is a brother and a friend; we worked together all through and within those times we didn’t have any quarrel.
“He was a man that will match his words with actions; he leaves no room for laxity. His developmental ideas in moving sports forward in Lagos were second to none.
“Deji’s achievements in sports development will be difficult to match, his efforts and ideas are what we have been seeing all over Lagos today.’’
Akinwunmi, who was visibly shaken by the development, told NAN that Tinubu’s death was like a big gash in his heart.
“Deji’s death came as a rude shock I would have thought that he was still around us to continue his good works for the sake of Lagos State.
“He is always ready to support any project brought to him and will never leave any hosting proposal issue unattended to.
“We are lucky to have hosted many championships under his watch, just to remember how we hosted the CAF Beach Soccer Cup of Nation with little time to prepare.
“He was a vanguard of sports development in Lagos State and his contributions to football are second to none because he loved the sport and kept it to his heart.
“It is quite unfortunate that he died doing what he knew how to do best and that is the beautiful game of football,” he said.
