18-07 2020 14:14
wrote:
I took one look at Mr. Harry Awurumibe’s ominously distended face as he walked into my office that Tuesday morning and instantly knew that something had gone horribly wrong.
“Henrietta is dead,” he muttered, barely above a whisper, his voice muffled as he sobbed. I stood there, blank, so he repeated the unwelcome three words a second time.
I sank into the chair. “What happened?” “Was she sick?” “Who confirmed?” “Please, what exactly are you talking about?”, I fired the questions that came to my mind. Knowing Awurumibe not to be a flippant person and not given to pranking, I could only sit there staring at the wall. “Henrietta dead?”. Did this man know what he was talking about? Being someone not given to frivolities, this certainly was not a tantrum on his part.
I went through the motions of informing the NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi. Oh, he had just been informed too, by Ms Aisha Falode, Member of the NFF Executive Committee and Chairman of the Nigeria Women Football League. I spoke with Dapo Sotuminu, publicist of NWFL, Henrietta’s close pal and a good friend and brother. He confirmed. I called Aisha Falode. She confirmed.
Somehow, I was able to put together a press statement. But it seemed a horrendous joke all through.
I must say that what actually brought the message home, more than anything else, was when Dapo wrote some days ago that Henrietta’s body had been taken to her hometown, Abba, Imo State and deposited in the MORTUARY! Henrietta, in the mortuary? It hit me like a thunderbolt. She was truly dead.
I called her “Henri’ and she called me ‘Edtior of the Boys’. ‘Boys’, in this duo-understood context, being girls. Girls, women, ladies in football. That was the mainstay of her entire professional, even social life. She lived women football.
My introduction into sports reporting was as an intern (with Daily Times under the indefatigable Sam John) covering women football – the Super Falcons’ campaign for a spot at the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in China in 1991. Sometimes later, having moved to other grounds, I learnt of the pioneering Female Football Interest Group, headed by Henrietta, and followed the group’s high level of commitment, gusto, pure passion, relentlessness, industry and innovation in supporting the cause of the women’s game, whether by reporting about it or organizing competitions, or providing useful and seminal advice to proprietors administrators.
Henrietta knew the entire terrain, how it all started, and was determined that it would hit Success Street. It did. She was an engaging conversationalist whenever it was women’s football, and spared no resource, energy or emotion to buoy the game.
Yet, she remained that simple, human personality with no airs around her. For someone involved in a pioneering effort, you would expect some kind of precursory conceit. Not Henrietta. That wide, all-too-genuine smile was there all day. It was rare to see her frown, let alone be engaged in an altercation, any time of day. She was dutiful, respectful and so self-effacing that it bothered on self-deprecation.
In my mental calendar, 1999 was the year of the CAF/UEFA Meridien Cup that I attended in Cape Town, South Africa; the year Nigeria hosted the FIFA World Youth Championship and; the year of Nigeria’s best outing at the FIFA Women’s World Cup so far. Henrietta was at that major event in USA and I remember her excitement and infectious passion on her return. We worked together at Vanguard; our paths criss-crossed on the reporting field and; we worked even more closely when she became Coordinator of the Super Falcons.
I am stoutly consoled by the seeming endless testimonies of not only your pioneering role and encouragement of women football, but also of the formidable work ethic and footprints you left as Financial Secretary (later, Vice Chairman) of Lagos SWAN, presidency of FFIG, correspondent for Vanguard newspapers, MINAJ, Super Screen, Coordinator of Super Falcons and Board Member of the NWFL. Equal opportunity and treatment was your theme everywhere.
Good night, Henri, till we meet to part no more. I pray that Almighty God will grant you eternal rest, and fortify the relations, friends and colleagues that you have left behind.
18-07 2020 14:14
wrote:
I took one look at Mr. Harry Awurumibe’s ominously distended face as he walked into my office that Tuesday morning and instantly knew that something had gone horribly wrong.
“Henrietta is dead,” he muttered, barely above a whisper, his voice muffled as he sobbed. I stood there, blank, so he repeated the unwelcome three words a second time.
I sank into the chair. “What happened?” “Was she sick?” “Who confirmed?” “Please, what exactly are you talking about?”, I fired the questions that came to my mind. Knowing Awurumibe not to be a flippant person and not given to pranking, I could only sit there staring at the wall. “Henrietta dead?”. Did this man know what he was talking about? Being someone not given to frivolities, this certainly was not a tantrum on his part.
I went through the motions of informing the NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi. Oh, he had just been informed too, by Ms Aisha Falode, Member of the NFF Executive Committee and Chairman of the Nigeria Women Football League. I spoke with Dapo Sotuminu, publicist of NWFL, Henrietta’s close pal and a good friend and brother. He confirmed. I called Aisha Falode. She confirmed.
Somehow, I was able to put together a press statement. But it seemed a horrendous joke all through.
I must say that what actually brought the message home, more than anything else, was when Dapo wrote some days ago that Henrietta’s body had been taken to her hometown, Abba, Imo State and deposited in the MORTUARY! Henrietta, in the mortuary? It hit me like a thunderbolt. She was truly dead.
I called her “Henri’ and she called me ‘Edtior of the Boys’. ‘Boys’, in this duo-understood context, being girls. Girls, women, ladies in football. That was the mainstay of her entire professional, even social life. She lived women football.
My introduction into sports reporting was as an intern (with Daily Times under the indefatigable Sam John) covering women football – the Super Falcons’ campaign for a spot at the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in China in 1991. Sometimes later, having moved to other grounds, I learnt of the pioneering Female Football Interest Group, headed by Henrietta, and followed the group’s high level of commitment, gusto, pure passion, relentlessness, industry and innovation in supporting the cause of the women’s game, whether by reporting about it or organizing competitions, or providing useful and seminal advice to proprietors administrators.
Henrietta knew the entire terrain, how it all started, and was determined that it would hit Success Street. It did. She was an engaging conversationalist whenever it was women’s football, and spared no resource, energy or emotion to buoy the game.
Yet, she remained that simple, human personality with no airs around her. For someone involved in a pioneering effort, you would expect some kind of precursory conceit. Not Henrietta. That wide, all-too-genuine smile was there all day. It was rare to see her frown, let alone be engaged in an altercation, any time of day. She was dutiful, respectful and so self-effacing that it bothered on self-deprecation.
In my mental calendar, 1999 was the year of the CAF/UEFA Meridien Cup that I attended in Cape Town, South Africa; the year Nigeria hosted the FIFA World Youth Championship and; the year of Nigeria’s best outing at the FIFA Women’s World Cup so far. Henrietta was at that major event in USA and I remember her excitement and infectious passion on her return. We worked together at Vanguard; our paths criss-crossed on the reporting field and; we worked even more closely when she became Coordinator of the Super Falcons.
I am stoutly consoled by the seeming endless testimonies of not only your pioneering role and encouragement of women football, but also of the formidable work ethic and footprints you left as Financial Secretary (later, Vice Chairman) of Lagos SWAN, presidency of FFIG, correspondent for Vanguard newspapers, MINAJ, Super Screen, Coordinator of Super Falcons and Board Member of the NWFL. Equal opportunity and treatment was your theme everywhere.
Good night, Henri, till we meet to part no more. I pray that Almighty God will grant you eternal rest, and fortify the relations, friends and colleagues that you have left behind.
