Four-time Super Eagles coach, Shuaibu Amodu was buried according to Islamic rites on Saturday, June 11, 2016, the same day that he passed away in his sleep in Benin City in Southern Nigeria.
Amodu was the only man to have qualified for two World Cup finals was buried in his home town, Okpella in Edo State, on Saturday evening on Saturday, June 11, 2016, the same day he he passed away in his sleep.
Islamic prayers were read as Amodu was laid to rest wrapped in a traditional white shroud (kafan) an buried in a wooden coffin in accordance with his last wishes.
The funeral ceremony was officiated by Ahmed Shehu, an Islamic cleric who described Amodu as a “great son of Okpelle”.
“Shuaibu [Amodu] was only here on earth for a short time but made a great impact,” Shehu said. “His journey ends here but not his memories because he died a great son of Okpella.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State attended the funeral, saying he was representing Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari. Officials of the Nigerian Football Federation led by Mohammed Sanusi and friends joined the family in bidding farewell to the late NFF technical director.
Mohammed Sanusi, NFF general secretary said the football federation will remain grateful to Amodu for his “amazing service to Nigerian and African football”.
“He lived for his family and football, Amodu gave his heart and soul to Nigerian football and we can never thank him enough,” Sanusi told BBC Sport. “We pray Almighty Allah grants him a place in Jannat-ul-Firdaus [paradise].”
Amodu Shuaibu Died of Frustration – Relative
Following the death of four-time Super Eagles coach, Shuaibu Amodu on Saturday, June 11, 2016, new information has emerged which suggests that the Nigerian football official may have died of “frustration”.
Shuaibu had complained of a chest pain on Friday night before going to bed. He never woke up on Saturday.
A cousin of Shuaibu Amodu, Ankari Afegbua reveals that the deceased was being owed money by the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, and the Edo State government. The debt was a huge source of frustration for Shuaibu, Afegbua maintains.
Afegbua, a legal practitioner claims that he was with Amodu through out Friday and was privy to information that the NFF owed Shuaibu substantial amounts of money which made it difficult for him to care for his immediate family.
Also, Edo State government is indebted to the late late football manager who was technical director of the Super Eagles at the time of his death.
“Apart from that pain he said he had on his chest, he was okay only for us to wake him up this morning to do the normal fasting and he was met dead, I think he died out of frustration because his financial status was not okay,” Adegbua told journalists after the Islamic burial rites.
“He was complaining of not being paid and he was having difficulties to maintain himself and his immediate family. I think the purpose of his being in Benin was to put up a bill for his payment. He is being owed by NFF and the Edo state government.”
Afegbua also hinted that Amodu may have had a premonition of his death. According to him, he and Shuaibu spoke extensively in the last hours of his life about what constitutes a proper funeral rite for a good Muslim.
“While talking yesterday [Friday], he was talking about how a Muslim should live his or her life and how he should be buried. He is a true Muslim, he said. “He Amodu] believed in Islamic faith and that is why we said we will not leave him in the mortuary because by Islamic faith, you are not expected to be embalmed or be put in the mortuary.”
An NFF official, Greg Ihenoba confirmed to Naij that Shuaibu Amodu probably would not have died now if he had money revealing that the deceased was owed up to two years salary.
“Just imagine, this man has not been paid for two years. He has been suffering. He has been doing everything to reach the governor of the state, but somehow, he got frustrated.
“The governor and his people are yet to pay. If this man was paid half of what he was owed, he won’t have died. He was forced out of his house in GRA. He is my boss, I worked with him for two years and I am being owed as well,” Ihenoba lamented.
Late Amodu is survived by his mother, his wife and seven children.
