Thousands of Nigerians on Monday paid tribute to late Super Eagles midfielder, Samuel Okwaraji, who died on August 30, 1989 at the National Stadium, Lagos during the 1990 World Cup qualifier against Angola.
Apart from the Nigerians, the Nigeria Football Federation also celebrated the 30th anniversary of the player’s death.
While paying tribute, they sympathised with the family of the player, who collapsed and died during the match against Angola.
“It’s been 30 years since this real and true Nigerian Patriot passed on while on duty for the country. Keep resting in peace, Okwaraji,” NFF said in a tweet.
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The NFF also shared a video on the memory of the late Okwaraji, who capped eight times for Nigeria and scored once, with a short message from its president, AmajuPinnick.
“We still feel and respect the labours of our heroes past, and we want to say today, being the 30th year that late Okwaraji passed on while playing, we still feel the sacrifice and patriotism that he showed, playing for this great country. And we have learnt great lessons from that patriot, even as we continue to use his attitude to guide young talents,” the message read.
Before his death, Okwaraji was a doctorate degree student of law from the University of Rome. He was born on May 19, 1964. [PUNCH]
