Kwara Launches N1.5m Endowment For Yekini

The Kwara State Government said yesterday that it has launched a N1.5 million endowment fund to cater for the children of late Super Eagles International, Rashidi Yekii.

The state government also pledged to immortalize the 1993 African Footballer of the Year and ex-international by naming a public facility in the state after him.

The State Commissioner for Communications and Information, Mr Tunji Moronfoye, disclosed these to newsmen in Ilorin, saying the government would also bear the cost of the fidau prayer for the late footballer.

The fidau prayer is to hold on May 12 in his hometown, Ira, in Oyun Local Government Area of the state.

According to Moronfoye, the endowment fund will cover Yekini’s children’s education to the university level.

The commissioner, who claimed to be a close associate of the soccer star, said that the deceased would forever be remembered for his commitment and dedication to African football.

He said that though the footballer spent his life in Ibadan, he was a pride to the people of Kwara, based on the feat he achieved in African football.

“Yekini’s death was a great loss and still lingering in the minds of the people of Kwara.

“Yekini was a great soccer star. A gentle and easy-going footballer, it was painful that he died so young”, Moronfoye said.

The former Super Eagles striker, who scored Nigeria’s first World Cup goal in U.S.A ’94, died on May 4, aged 48.