Guardian

Friends, associates, others mourn

VETERAN journalist and sports writer, Deacon Ayo Ositelu, on Wednesday at 11p.m passed on at the age of 69 at Topaz Hospital, Surulere, where he was rushed to after he complained of dizziness.

Ositelu was also the first chairman of the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LDCA). When The Guardian visited his Jakande Estate, Oke Afa, Isolo residence Thursday, his political associates and supporters were around mourning his demise.

The Guardian learnt that he was watching the soap opera, Tinsel, when he took ill and began to feel dizzy. When the illness did not subside, he was rushed to Topaz Hospital, where he passed on at about 11p.m. His wife, Aribike, could only stare at those who came to condole her. She wept intermittently, saying: “I am still in shock and also thinking of how my life will be without him.

“We were together last night (Wednesday) watching television when he suddenly took ill. He said he felt dizzy and when he wasn’t getting better, we rushed him to the hospital where he breathed his last. I want to be left alone to mourn him quietly.”

His younger brother, Bankole, who owned the hospital where he was rushed to, also said that late Ositelu might have died of heart attack. He explained: “I wasn’t in the hospital when he was brought in. My doctors saw him but it was too late to help him, he died 10 minutes after he was brought in.

“We spoke on Monday and there was no inkling he was sick and was going to die. Since it came suddenly, it is likely he had a heart attack. We even talk about his 70th birthday, which would have come up on April 6.”

He described the former Editor of The Sunday Punch Newspapers as someone everyone would like to be with, saying: “He was always full of life and someone even we, his younger ones, loved to be with despite the age difference between us. He always had a story to tell, he was humorous and had his way with words.”

Ejigbo LCDA Chairman, Kehinde Bamgbetan, said he got the news at about 11p.m on Wednesday night and came down from Ibadan yesterday morning to see the family. He said he had informed the Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola.

He described the late Ositelu as an independent person, who was very passionate about what he believed in, adding that the late sports analyst was liberal, easy going and accommodating.

“When I was elected chairman, I visited him and some of the advice he gave me have helped me this far,” he said. “We had a good relationship, which showed continuity, and he was always present when we invited him to function at the council.”

He assured that he would liaise with the state government on the need to immortalise the late Ositelu, who is also described as kind-hearted, and that they would be involved in his burial arrangement.

Others who paid condolence visits included the Director of Press Publication and Strategies, Ministry of Information, Lagos State, Ronke Osho. According to her, Ositelu was her boss at The Punch, where he (Ositelu) was the Sunday Editor. She said: “Honestly, I’m shocked about his death. I was a reporter at The Punch and Ositelu was my boss then. We used to call him ‘Arena.’”

Ronke, who wrote in the condolence register, “Arena Ayo, may God rest your gentle soul,” disclosed that Ositelu encouraged young journalists while working with The Punch, adding that he would always be remembered.

Born on April 6, 1943, Ositelu would have been 70 this year. He touched so many lives with his reporting, particularly the game of tennis, to which his passionate, analytical bent had made fans from haters, and would be sorely missed for the first time in a very long while when the Australian Grand Slam begins next Monday.

…His last moment

By Paul Oloko

AS more reactions have continued to trail the demise of veteran journalist and sports writer, Deacon Ayo Ositelu, his niece, Mrs. Bola Yusuf, narrates how Ositelu breathed last on Wednesday.

She told The Guardian: “We were all watching television when suddenly he rushed to the toilet and kept long there. Twenty minutes later, the wife went knocking on the toilet door and asked if he needed some assistance, but he told his wife not to bother.”

Bola, sobbing as she narrated the sad story, continued, “finally, when he came out from the toilet, he was restless and sweating profusely.

Noticing his worrisome health condition, he was rushed to Topez Hospital in Surulere. At the hospital, the nurses were unable to locate his vein and later said that his system had collapsed, resulting in his death. Speaking on Ositelu’s life, Bola said: “Ayo was a caring man. He loved his people. I will even miss him, being the first grand child of the family.”

An evangelist, Mrs. Folake Adejujigbo Azeez, wrote in the condolence register: “My brother, I thought I promised to pay you a visit in the new year when I saw you in the church on December 31. Little did I know that my visit would be without your presence. How are the mighty fallen! Rest in perfect peace.”

Ositelu’s last public appearance

By Tope Templer Olaiya

FOR Ejigbo Local Council Development Authority (LCDA), the death of Deacon Ayo Ositelu is a loss to many as the late sports writer, who was also the first chairman of the LCDA, was among dignitaries who, on January 8, 2013, attended the eighth day Fidau for the LCDA’s late Supervisory Councillor for Agriculture, Youth, Social and Sports Development, Muritala Olaiwon.

Olaiwon was elected councilor representing Ailegun ward between 2004 and 2007, during Ositelu’s era. At the Fidau prayer, Ositelu, who adorned a white lace, wore his characteristic gentle mien and usual smiles.

It was in his usual stride that he walked to the rostrum to pay his last respect to the man he described as a dependable grassroots worker. Citing the need to catch up with other pressing matters, he left the venue shortly after his tributes.

Laloko, Hamilton, others pay tribute

SPORTS lovers and buffs yesterday mourned the late veteran sports journalist and administrator, Deacon Ayo Ositelu, saying his death was a great loss to the entire sports family.

The mourners, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the tennis and football family in particular would sorely miss him. They said the public would miss his tennis write-ups, adding that he was a role model that all young journalists looked up to.

The fans also said he should be given a befitting burial because he contributed immensely to the development of sports in the country. A former Technical Director of the defunct Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Kasimawo Laloko, told NAN that he was shocked at the news of Ositelu’s death. According to him, he was a big journalist of their time, who kept faith with trends in sports development. Laloko wished his soul perfect peace.

Also, a former coach of the Super Falcons, Paul Hamilton, said: “The deceased was a good man, a good friend and a rare gem. I am surprised at the news of his death. He was a good man, a God-fearing man who used his position to promote sports in Nigeria.”

Chairman of the Lagos chapter of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Fred Edoreh, described Ositelu as a role model, who young journalists looked up to. He said that everybody would miss his tennis write-ups, which he was using to inform the public and promote the sport in Nigeria and beyond.

“He was a gentleman and someone who doesn’t talk flippantly. Even when he was in politics, he never left tennis but used his medium to promote the sport. He was someone we young journalists looked up to as a role model; we will definitely miss him,” Edoreh said.

And for Lagos-based sports analyst, Tayo Balogun, Ositelu was one of the journalists who had been sustaining the development of tennis and other sports with his writings. In his reaction, Technical Director of Lagos State Tennis Association, Kehinde Ajayi, said that Ositelu was a name to behold in tennis.

He added that Ositelu had been promoting tennis since he was chairman of the state association. Ajayi urged the Nigerian Tennis Federation (NTF) to give him a befitting burial.

Ositelu was a journalist for over 30 years and was a former editor of the defunct Concord Newspaper and a former Group Sports Editor of The Punch Newspapers. He left The Punch in 1987 to venture into private publishing business. He wrote columns for many newspapers, including The Concord and The Guardian, and until his death, was a member of the editorial board of The Guardian.

Ositelu was the first Nigerian print journalist to receive the National Sports Merit Award. He also ventured into politics in 2004 and became the chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LDCA) of Lagos State.

Commissioner grieves

THE Lagos State Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Wahid Oshodi, has described Deacon Ayo Ositelu’s demise as painful.

Oshodi, who was scheduled to have a meeting of the state’s Sports Endowment Fund, which Ositelu belonged to, said he was shocked at the death.

“Ositelu continually contributed to sports development and this he did even regularly. His comments were faultless while his regular column in The Guardian on various sports, especially tennis, has made him a delight to read,” he said. “His analyses on football and other sports were without equal. So the sporting family will indeed miss him.

“In Lagos, we will miss him because we were drawing from his wealth of experience. We commiserate with the family.”