President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amuju Pinnick, former Super Eagles coach, Austin Eguavon; Delta State Sports Commission Chairman, Chief Tony Okowa; Chairman, Warri Wolves Football Club, Nelville Bekederemu and Edo State Football Association Chairman.
Frank Ilaboya, yesterday visited the Benin residence of late Stephen Keshi to condole with the family Amaju who described Keshi as extraordinary humanbeing in the face of the outpouring of love and tributes from around the world in the last 48 hours when the news of his demise was broken, said Nigerians were shocked to hear the sad news, adding that the numerous messages so far received from around the world were indications that Keshi contributed in no small measure to the advancement of football in Nigeria “Keshi was not an ordinary person.
We will miss him a lot. He was a Big Boss because he always wanted to win. He was very assertive. We are devastated but proud of him and what he has achieved as a footballer. “Keshi needs to be immortalised and we will liaise with the Ministry of Sports for him to be immortalised,” Pinnick said.
Also President of PAMODZI Sport Marketing company, Mike Itemuagbor, said Keshi meant a lot to different people and called for the growth of football in Nigeria adding, “If Keshi had received so much outpouring of love while alive, he would have performed more for the growth of the game in Nigeria,
” On his part, former Super Eagles coach, Eguavoen, said Keshi was able to stand out from the crowd as a Super Eagles player because of his ability to take assertive position on any issue, adding that for one to convince him, you needed to provide a superior opinion on why he should change his mind.
Eguavoen said
“That makes him unique to stand taller among his contemporaries.That was Stephen Keshi for you. We will miss him dearly. He was a great player and a great coach,” .