The Chairman Nigeria boxing Board of Control (NBBofC) Oyo State Chapter, Hon. Gbenga Opaleye has described the passage of the late boxing enthusiast, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi the Alaafin of Oyo as a great loss to the body and the boxing family in Nigeria.
Opaleye in a statement issued to commiserate with Alaafin in council recalled the promise made by the late respected monarch to provide incentives for the professional boxers in Oyo State as a way to motivate them for optimal performance when the executives of the NBBofC last visited his palace.
Alaafin’s contributions to the development of boxing at both amateur and professional levels are just too numerous to mention, and as such, I can’t begin to say this and this is what he had done for us in boxing.
“Baba was like a father figure for us in the Nigerian boxing family hence we’re going to miss his fatherly advice and support and that is why I am describing his death as a monumental loss to the Oyo State boxing family in Nigeria as a whole”, Opaleye noted.
Opaleye however hinted that the executive of the NBBofC will meet at the national level to deliberate on how to better immortalize his name Oba Adeyemi with a national boxing program with a view to making it an annual event.