Legendary Nigerian sports broadcaster passes on

Fabio Lanipekun was a member of the old ilk of sports broadcasters in Nigeria and had celebrated his 80th birthday four days ago.

Lanipekun, who worked at NTA and was known for his football commentaries back in the day died in the United States on Sunday according to his family.

He was known as the ‘encyclopedia of sports’ and was a regular face on NTA long after his retirement as he analysed games of the Super Eagles.

The veteran broadcaster also had a column on Complete Sports where he wrote about Nigerian football.

His commentary was inspired by David Coleman, a veteran commentator with the BBC.

Uncle Fabio as he was fondly called was the head of sports at the Nigeria Television Authority(NTA) headquarters for many years and also served as the Public Relations Officer(PRO) of the Nigeria Olympic Committee(NOC) at some point in his career.

He had a respected understanding of Nigerian football’s history having started work since 1962 and he stood out for hard work and excellence while he lived.