June 09, (THEWILL) – The Director of Sports, Bayelsa State Sports Council, Sir Braveman Wodi, has eulogised the late football administrator, Hon. Anthony Akpoebi Ogola, popularly known as Tony Ogola (Baba T), who died at the age of 57.
Wodi, who said he encountered the late Ogola in 2003 in some grassroots soccer engagements in the state, described him as a man of positivity with the capability to turn negative situations around.
The Director of Sports spoke when he represented the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports Development, Hon. Daniel Igali, at the funeral of the late football administrator on Saturday, June 8, 2024.
The brief but solemn funeral ceremony took place at the multipurpose hall of the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa.
In his tribute, the Chairman of the State-owned Bayelsa United FC, Ebiki Timi Timi, described the late Ogola as someone who lived a simple and non-materialistic life.
The late Tony Ogola was the longest-serving chairman of Bayelsa United FC since its establishment in 1998. He was also a one-time General Manager of the now-defunct Ocean Boys FC of Brass, Chairman of the now-defunct Divine Warriors FC of Yenagoa, and Hensard FC of Toru Orua in Sagbama LGA of Bayelsa State. He was also a one-time Chairman of Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.
Ogola hailed from Indiamazi quarters of Sagbama town in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. He was survived by two wives, nine children and a grandchild.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
