Sportsville honours Okoya Thomas

Sportsville honours Okoya Thomas One of the longest serving secretaries of the Lagos State Football Association, Uthman Okunnu, has described the late Molade Okoya Thomas as a Colossus whose footprints in sports philanthropy in Nigeria will be difficult to erase. Okunnu, who is today an Executive Director, Technical, Lagos State Sports Commission, was reacting to the Posthumous Award nomination of the late business mogul by Sportsville Communication. Okunnu says the late philanthropist gave his all to the development of table tennis in Nigeria, nay Africa. "The Asoju Oba Table Tennis Tournament which he started is today over 50 years old. I cannot remember any other tournament that has lasted long like the Asoju Oba Table Tennis Tournament. "That the late Okoya Thomas single-handedly sponsored this tournament throughout his lifetime shows how passionate he was in unearthing talents and honing their skills to stardom. "Tell me any table tennis star today that didn't emerge or played in the Asoju Oba Table Tennis Tournament! Is it the like of Olympic star, like Bose Kaffo or the rave of the moment Haruna Quadri! "That was why I was so elated when I read that Sportsville will be honouring him in this year's award ceremony. Though he got a lot of honours during his lifetime, but to me, this is a great one coming after his demise over 10 years ago, and the table tennis community will definitely applaud this," Okunnu, fondly called Blatter added. The late Molade Okoya Thomas will be honoured in the Icon Category alongside great personalities like veteran referee, Linus Mba, Founder of the first Sports TV Station in Nigeria, Osa Sunny Adun, Media and Marketing guru, Rotimi Pedro and Nigeria's only individual Olympic gold medalist, Chioma Ajunwa-Oparah. The award ceremony holds on Thursday, April 3, 2025 at the magnificent Eko Club, Surulere Lagos. Over 25 persons will be decorated with awards in five categories on the night