Football community gathers in Ibadan as Taiwo Ogunjobi begins final journey

The roll call had all that matter in Nigerian football. They all came to pay their last respects to former Secretary General of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Taiwo Ogunjobi, who passed on recently.

At the event held at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan were current and past principal officers of the NFF, including its president, Amaju Pinnick, First Vice President, Seyi Akinwunmi, former vice president, Amanze Uchegbulam, Super Eagles’ former coach, Adegboye Onigbinde, retired footballers and club managers.

The funeral rites, organised by a group,Western Nigeria Football Forum (WNFF), of which the late Ogunjobi was a prominent member, started with a symposium in honour of the late football administrator at the indoor sports hall of the stadium.

With the theme, ‘Celebrating the life and times of Ogunjobi’, it had such key speakers as the former NFF President, Sani Lulu Abdullahi, Pinnick, chairman of the Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC), Gbolagade Busari; former international, Segun Odegbami; former Sports Editor of Nigerian Tribune, Mr Ade Somefun, Gboyega Makinde and Elder Bode Oyewole, among others.

They gave an insight into the life of the late Ogunjobi, who was one of the most successful captains of Ibadan club, Shooting Stars FC.The body of the late administrator will lie in state today at the stadium, which will host a novelty football match featuring a whatsapp group, Friends United by Sports (FUBS) of which the late Ogunjobi was captain, All Stars of Lagos and former Shooting Stars/Osun United players.

He would be laid to rest tomorrow at a private cemetery.Speaking on the symposium, Akinwunmi, who is the leader of Western Nigeria Football Forum, said, “this is an avenue to honour him because he did so well for football in the South West and Nigeria as a whole.” He also enjoined all football stakeholders to turn out en mass to pay their last respect to the former chairman of the Shooting Stars Sports Club.”