Patrick Okpomo, NFA's ex-scribe, dies at 60
By Bode Ayodele and Olukayode Thomas
SEASONED sports administrator and former Sole Administrator of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Mr. Patrick Okpomo, is dead.
He died yesterday morning at the Saint Nicholas Hospital, Lagos.
Until his death, Okpomo was an instructor on the list of Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
He thrice served at the helm of affairs of the Nigerian Football Association (NFA), twice as its Secretary-General, from 1984-1987 and from 1989-1990. He was later appointed a sole administrator, saddled with re-structuring the body.
Among other numerous appointments, he was also the Director of Organisation of the FIFA-organised World Youth Championship (WYC) tagged: Nigeria '99. Okpomo later served as the head of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Ghana -Nigeria Nations Cup 2000.
His death has been met with profuse expression of grief by many Nigerians and in sports circles.
CAF's executive member, Dr Amos Adamu, expressed shock by the report. He described the death as a big loss to the family and the sports fraternity.
"We will miss him a lot, he was a very close friend and one who was committed to his job, " Adamu said.
The CAF member, who said that he got to know of the late sport administrator's death through a text message from a friend, said that the African football governing body would miss Okpomo's valuable contributions.
Adamu said: "I had known him for well over 15 years, we had actually contacted each other when he was the sports officer of M.K.O Abiola's Football Club. He was such a consistent, hospitable and cheerful person and he commanded a lot of respects in CAF."
He recalled Okpomo's contributions to his success during the elections into the CAF executive seat. "In Tunisia during my re-election, the late Okpomo was at the forefront. Although I could not speak French, he was there to help out," Adamu said.
Another sports administrator, Mr. Bolaji Ojo-Oba, described Okpomo�s death as "very unfortunate". He referred to Okpomo as a "sports encyclopaedia" and "the best thing to happen to Nigerian football."
Ojo-Oba gave the late Okpomo the credit for the successes of the younger generation of Nigeria's football administrators. "He was our mentor. It is for him that we are what we are today. He was not the bossy type and he would always give you a free hand. We can only hope to do our best to emulate him."
