Nigeria Mourns Coach Tella, State Burial Planned
Nigerians
are mourning the death of Professor Yemi Tella,
the
chief coach of the World’s Under-17 soccer
champions, The Golden Eaglets.
They are also calling for a state burial for the
departed soul of the football icon for
traversing the soccer world as a colossus.
Coach Joe Erico, Thompson Oliha, Effiom Ntiero and
Adetola Adegoke, a biochemist, were unanimous in
their demand for the state burial as a mark of
honour for Late Tella.
In a swift reaction to the call, the Lagos state
government in the Southwest of the country has set
up a three-man committee to plan for the late
coach’s internment.
The committee comprises the state Commissioner for
Sports and Youth Development, Prince Adeniji Adele,
Information and strategy Commissioner, Opeyemi
Bamidele and a representative of the Tella family.
Condolences
Nigeria’s
Senate President, David Mark, expressed "regret
and shock" over Tella's death. He advised that
the late coach be immortalised as a way of
appreciating his efforts at developing sports in
Nigeria.
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state paid a
visit to the family of the deceased, during which he
pledged the provision of a generating plant and a
borehole for the use of the family by the state
government.
According to him, “The coach has done well by
winning laurels for the country so he deserves all
the honour he can get.”
Tella died on Saturday at the Lagos University
Teaching Hospital, Lagos where he had been under
intensive care for two weeks.
His death came 41 days after he led the
country’s junior national team to win the FIFA
Under-17 World Cup competition in South Korea on
September 9, 2007.
NP/QASIM/YINKA