To celebrate the giant strides made by late Sir Molade Okoya-Thomas, a sports philanthropist, the Lagos State Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development, Office of Sports is organising an Evening of Tributes by the Sports Family.
In a statement on Tuesday, the event holds at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos State on March 3 between 4pm and 6pm.
According to the Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Wahid Oshodi, the late philanthropist was a role model for a lot of Lagosians for his generosity and support for grassroots sports development in the state, adding that he would surely be missed, especially by the sports family.
Okoya-Thomas’ contribution to sports in Lagos and Nigeria cannot be underestimated as he single-handedly sponsored the annual Asoju Oba Table Tennis Cup for more than four decades as the longest running table tennis competition in Africa.
Before his demise on February 1, he was the Chairman of the Lagos State Sports Endowment Fund, served as Chairman on many sports fund raising committees and was instrumental to the formation of Team Nigeria in 2003.