Fabio, the Grandmaster

Just four days after marking his 80th birthday, the ace sports journalist, Adesola Fabio Lanipekun (or Fabio for short), dropped both the pen and the microphone finally, submitting to the ultimate referee. Because football is the most popular sports here in Nigeria, it may be easy and convenient to pigeonhole Fabio’s adroitness and limit it to only this game. But that would not only be unfair, it would also be an outrageous lie, because Fabio was a thoroughbred professional who was indeed very comfortable with various sporting activities, a master on different turfs.

Born on March 2, 1942 in Lagos, Fabio attended Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School, Okepopo, Lagos, from 1947 to 1955 and Methodist Boys High School, Lagos, from 1956 to 1961. For his higher education, he was at Regent Street Polytechnic, London, where he graduated in 1966. At various times, he served as a reporter for the Daily and Sunday Express;  associate editor, African Observer, London; news assistant, BBC World Service; and sub-editor, Radio Nigeria. He became the first sports editor of the Western Nigeria Television and Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service, Ibadan, in 1969. He became the Controller of Sports, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in 1983 and Manager, Sports, in 1984. He retired from the station in 1995.

A vastly experienced journalist, Fabio covered the Nigerian National Sports Festival from 1973 to 1991 and was at the All Africa Games in 1973, 1978, 1987, 1991 and 1995. He was a member of the Press Publicity and Public Relations Sub Committee of the second All Africa Games, Lagos, in 1973; and among other assignments, he served as the chairman, Welfare Committee, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria in 1975. Fabio covered the Olympic Games in Moscow (1980), Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988) and Barcelona, (1992). He also covered the FIFA Championships, Moscow ‘85; Canada ‘87, Saudi Arabia ‘89 and Scotland ‘89, together with three World Cup tournaments: Mexico ‘86, Italia ‘90 and USA ‘94.  He was, among others, a member of the Local Organising Committee, of the FIFA World Youth Championships held in Nigeria in 1999. He was a founding member of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and the Association of International Sports Press.

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One key attribute that stood him out was his awesome memory. Giving live commentaries, Fabio easily recalled the details of several situations and their contexts in the sports arena, and was thus able to juice up his commentaries in matchless ways. He mesmerised his audience and numerous fans as he did tie-backs. His dedication to his craft was indeed remarkable. As the NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi said in his tribute: “We all read the history of how he blazed the trail in sports broadcasting, starting from his time at the WNTV in Ibadan, and his distinguished and stellar career at the NTA. He was an oracle of the industry. We are consoled by the fact that he lived an exemplary, fruitful and fun-filled life. He was a professional to the core and loved his job deeply.” It can be no surprise, then, that the Lagos State chapter of SWAN has urged the Federal Government and the Lagos State government to immortalise him, just like they did the late ace commentators, Ishola Folorunsho and the late Ernest Okonkwo. It is a patriotic call and we endorse it wholeheartedly.

To be sure, Fabio loved his job and his country to bits. He did not exit the country in search of greener pastures despite all the frustrations that various administrations caused him and other sports-loving Nigerians. There were ugly developments in the sports industry that no doubt threatened to dampen his spirit but like all great men, he confronted them with courage and decency. He also mentored many to greatness. In a birthday tribute on the occasion of his 79th birthday, ex Green Eagles great, ‘the mathematical’ Segun Odegbami, wrote: “My conversation with him about Sports Spectacular on NTA, a sports programme anchored by Chuka Momah and Yinka Craig, opened my eyes to the possibility of becoming only the second independently produced sports programme on Nigerian television… Uncle Fabio told me I could be the second if I chose to go that way in sports journalism. He promised to guide and support me. That was the birthing of my interest and subsequent foray into television documentaries and production. When we returned to Nigeria, I visited him in the NTA sports office inside the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos. Surrounded by tapes of sports events and matches from the past, he triggered my interest to retrieve footage of my own matches. Uncle Fabio’s ‘hands and legs’ were in my making. His mantras were strict discipline, moral uprightness and professionalism.”

As a columnist with the Nigerian Tribune for years, Fabio, known as the Grandmaster, wrote a vital part of Nigeria’s sports history. He brought panache to sports journalism and did in fact lure many young people to the profession. Testimonies abound about the discipline which attended the performance of his craft. He traversed the media space, working in both the print and electronic media and excelling in both. Perhaps one key lesson that Fabio Lanipekun taught all and sundry is to rise above whatever obstacles that life may present through discipline, courage and decency. He will be sorely missed.

Adieu, Fabio.