Kunle Adelabu
The life and times of late Alhaji Kolawole Saheed Akinsanya, a retired senior police officer and foremost community and sports developer have been recalled by eminent personalities and sports administrators in Ikorodu with all them agreeing that he made great and impactful contributions.
Late Akinsanya, who died Sunday, August 19, 2024, was former President, Grassroots Sports Development Forum (GSDF), former Vice Chairman, Ikorodu Divisional Football Association (IDFA), a former Team Manager, Pepsi Academy, Founder, Greater Tomorrow and former Coordinator, Safety First Initiative.
Eminent personalities again, paid their tributes to the incorruptible retired police officer at the Police Barracks Playing Ground, Ikorodu, during a novelty match organized in his honour by the Pepc Foundation founded by his son, Barr. Luqman Akinsanya.
The ceremony also served as the kick – off of the foundation’s annual distribution of Christmas and New Year food packages tagged, ‘Love Beyond Xmas’, with a target of 20, 000 households across the state.
His activities while alive earned him many awards and honours within Ikorodu, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State and Nigeria as a whole.
Otunba Fatai Olukoga, former Special Adviser on Education to the former Governor pf Lagos State, Mr Raji Babatunde Fashola, SAN, still expressed his sadness about four months after the death of the late sports developer whom he worked with closely while alive.
“First of all, let me say we are all sad to receive the sudden news Alhaji Saheed Akinsanya, who was a Safety Ambassador, and the President of the Grassroot Sports Development Forum.
“He brought me into sports development when I was in the Ministry of Sports. He told me to help them in developing sports in Ikorodu. We work a lot together and we tried to achieve a lot at that time. During the period, I also had my own team, Olukoga TFootball Team, which did very well.
“May his soul rest in perfect peace. We have to say that his dream and his aim will continue matching on while we are still around. We will make sure that grassroot sports do not die in Ikorodu. We will ensure that we go matching on.
He still have some people he left behind and we will continue to work with them to ensure that his dream is sustained,”Otunba Olukoga assured those present at the event”, he said.
A Chairmanship aspirant for the Ikorodu Local Government and publisher of The Factor Newsmagazine, Comrade Japheth Odesanya, who honoured late Alhaji Akinsanya as the Runner -up, Factor Ikorodu Man of the Year and Factor Community Builder awards, said that he left an indelible impact behind.
Cmr Japheth Odesanya said, “Let me say his memory is sweet. Alhaji was a dogged community and grassroots developer.
He was not only bestowed with the honour as a runner – up, Ikorodu Man of the year and he also won The Factor Community Builder award, and many other accolades.
“I am happy that he is being remembered today by the Pepc Foundation. He has left a legacy, and I am happy seeing his children taking after him. He trained all of them very well and he also enjoyed the grace to have such a wonderful wife. We must continue to celebrate him.
“He contributed a lot to Ikorodu development and he deserved that award even posthumously. We must continue to honour his memory.”
Chairman, All Stars Football Association, Ikorodu and Chairman, NAPHER – SD, Shomolu/Ikorodu Zone, Mr Babatunde Onasanya described Alhaji Akinsanya as an upright, sincere and accommodating person who has big interest in sports development.
Mr Onasanya who worked with the late Alhaji Akinsanya for about 26 years, hailed him as ‘an upright, objective, very plain, and very hardworking person. who loved kids so much and loved bringing people together irrespective of their position, or where they are from or identity but the content of their character.
“He was a good person. He had a very big focus when it comes to sports in Ikorodu Division and Lagos State as a whole.
We are missing him, and we shall continue to miss him, because what he left behind is a very big one and we are yet to know the person that his shoes will fit.
“He was dedicated to the cleaning and maintenance of this particular field and today, we are honouring him here. His memory will continue to linger on and we shall continue to remember him,”
Mr Onasanya said.
Also, Mayor Kalejaiye, Chairman, Grassroot Sports Development Forum, and a former team manager, All Stars International, Ikorodu said that the late Akinsanya was a great leader who embarked on difficult tasks:
“He has left a lasting legacy. He went through a lot to emerged as a leader and I learnt a lot from him. It is the difficulty of tasks and how someone handled them that makes true leaders and that was what Alhaji did while alive. He would always do what was necessary at all times and also carried everyone along.
“Many of these people that you are seeing today actually passed through him and today, majority of them are doing well. Although, losing him is very sad, but we will continue to celebrate.”
Alhaji Shamsideen Yusuf, former Chairman ,All Stars Football Club, Ikorodu, who was the last person among his sports colleagues to be with him on Saturday before his death the next day, described him as incomparable.
“Actually, he was incomparable as a human being. He was a football enthusiast, in fact, you would not know that he was a promoter. You would think he was a football player, because even at his age, he always made it to the field every Sunday to play with others.
His record will remain intact and can never be over looked in any form. He nurtured so many footballers in Ikorodu, and went as far as taking them away from Nigeria to play abroad.
All these were done with his own money and energy. He was going from Ikorodu to Abuja because of a boy whose parents he never knew. He was a very great man within the football circle in Ikorodu.
In fact, you will not believe that he was not actually from Ikorodu, but all his work and ambition were geared towards bringing Ikorodu up in football and other sports,” commented Alh.Shamsideen Yusuf.
