Sports Ministry loses Deputy Director

The Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports on Thursday in Abuja lost one of its senior staff, Lizzy Onyewenwa, the Deputy Director of Planning.
The Director of Information, Ministry of Youths and Sports, Tolu Makinde, who confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria, said Onyewenwa died after a brief illness.
NAN reports that Onyewenwa, who was popularly known as “Lizzy’’, died at the age of 59 in the early hours of Thursday at the National Hospital in Abuja.
Makinde said details of the burial would be made known after due consultations with the family.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation has in an immediate reaction expressed deep shock and grief at the demise of Onyewenwa, who was its former Head of Women’s Football.
“This is a big shock to us all,” NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
Sanusi said: “The news hit us like a thunderbolt because most of us didn’t even know she was ill.
“It is a very sad day. Onyewenwa was a pillar of strength in the administration of women’s football in Nigeria from the early stages.
“The role she played in the development of the game will never be forgotten.”
Onyewenwa, a Deputy Director in the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Information in the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, headed the NFF Women’s Football Unit in the early days of the game’s birth.
Sanusi added: “She worked tirelessly to guarantee a solid foundation for the Women National Teams and the Women’s League.
“Our prayer is for Almighty God to forgive her sins and grant her eternal rest, and also give those she has left behind the fortitude to bear the big loss.”