Flamboyant former Nigerian boxer, Jeremaiah Okorodudu gave up the ghost on Wednesday, after a complicated struggle with death at a Lawanson hospital in Lagos, hours before he was scheduled for a surgery to amputate his leg.
Family sources told our correspondent that Okorodudu, who represented Nigeria at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics had a partial stroke about two years ago. He was managing that when matters became worse after he was diagnosed with Diabetics sometime last year.
“Apart from the partial stroke, he was also diabetic,” our source said, adding that the sore foot was also cancerous. “It developed into a foot cancer. Originally, the foot was to be amputated last Saturday but because the initial deposit had not reached the amount the hospital was asking for, the surgery had to be rescheduled for Thursday.”
We further gathered that following the former boxer’s demise, the hospital authority initially refused to release the corpse, pending when the backlog of monies owed them was settled. We gathered that the amount of N600,000 was still outstanding.
However, latest information reaching us said the hospital has eventually released the body to daughter of the late Olympian. “The daughter has taken the remains of her late father to an undisclosed morgue in Satellite Town, in Lagos,” our source said.
The death of Jerry (as he was popularly called) has stirred the Nigerian boxing fraternity. President of the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control Dr. Rauf Oladipo expressed sadness over the death of the former boxer but said the NBB of C was not aware of Okorodudu’s state of health until late last week, when he heard about it on radio that Jerry was critically ill.
“We did not have any contact from the family and I only got to hear of Jerry’s ill health on radio while on my way to Ibadan. I promised that when I return the board would meet to deliberate on his case only to be told last night that he was dead,” Ladipo said.
The NBB of C boss stressed that the board will still meet to see if there was any way they could contribute to easing the financial burden on the family. “Jerry was a celebrated boxer who drew crowds whenever he was boxing. We have lost a rare gem. A man like that shouldn’t be sick and people will not get to hear about it. We(the board) will still meet, very soon.”
Secretary General of the NBB of C and President of the West African Boxing Union, Remi Aboderin was also shocked at the sad news. Said he, “It is unfortunate that he died this way, and I am actually lost for words. May his soul rest in peace.”
One of Nigeria’s most successful boxers Obisia Nwakpa was crestfallen when contacted for comments. “I was shocked, when I heard of Okorodudu’s passing. It is still very difficult for me to comment on his death. He was a very good boxer because I watched him box. He was a damn good boxer.”
Obisia couldn’t say much because, according to him, he was still too shocked to talk.