NFF mourns Joe Ighile

The Nigeria camp at the 29th Africa Cup of Nations in Johannesburg, South Africa was badly jolted on Saturday morning when news filtered in that ace broadcast journalist Joseph Ighile had died in Lagos.

Ighile, a member of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, was in South Africa for the group stage campaign of the Super Eagles.

Late Joe Ighile

He was presenting his sports programme on CHANNELS television on Friday evening when he reportedly slumped and died before anxious colleagues could get him to hospital.

NFF President Aminu Maigari was taken aback when the sad news was broken to him. “Oh, my God! What happened to him? How did it happen?

“Joe (Ighile) interviewed me and I saw him doing his work quietly but diligently during the group stage in Nelspruit. A good man has gone. May his gentle soul rest in peace.”

Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, Chief Emeka Inyama was distraught. “What happened to Joseph? I have never heard of this kind of thing.

“Joe was your idea of a hardworking, enterprising and yet, unobtrusive journalist. He did his job conscientiously and with grace and honour.

“Everyone is shocked. This is sad, very sad. As a member of the Media and Publicity Committee, he was very supportive and very positive.”