ILORIN- A midfielder with the former Green Eagles and defunct IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan, Moses Otolorin, on Monday died in Ilorin at the age of 65.
One of the children of the deceased, Funke Otolorin, confirmed the incident in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ilorin.
Otolorin, scorer of nine of the 15 goals his club scored to bag the 1976 African Cup Winners Cup title, died in a hospital in Ilorin after a protracted illness.
His remains have since been deposited at the Omosebi Hospital, Gaa-Akanbi in Ilorin.
As a member of the squad which won Nigeria’s first club continental laurel to Nigeria in 1976, he played alongside the likes of Samuel Ojebode, Philip Boamah and Segun Odegbami.
Other notables in the squad were Folorunso Gambari, Idowu Otubusin, Best Ogedegbe, Muda Lawal and Nathaniel Adewole.
He also featured for the then Green Eagles, the senior national football team.
Otolorin, who was renowned for his long throw-ins, retired in 2009 as a Senior Sports Coach at the Kwara State Polytechnic in Ilorin.
Meanwhile, the Kwara chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) has described Otolorin’s death as shocking.
In a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Bunmi Adedoyin, and Secretary, Jimoh Bashir, Kwara SWAN said Otolorin was a great footballer and coach who made valuable contributions to Nigeria.
“We urge his family to take solace in the fact that Moses Otolorin lived a useful and purposeful life,’’ it said.
An Information Officer at Kwara State Polytechnic, Yinus Abdulkadir, described the death of the late midfielder as a rude shock to the entire staff and students of the institution.
“Otolorin was a hardworking man who lived a life worthy of emulation,’’ he said.