Fabio Lanipekun started sports reporting with the Daily/Sunday Express before he travelled to the United Kingdom to study
By Charles Nwagbara
It was an emotional farewell on Thursday, April 28, 2022, when the remains of veteran sportscaster, late Pa Fabio Adeshola Lanipekun, was buried in Lagos.
The funeral rites commenced on Wednesday with a service of songs cum wake keep.
Emotions ran high that Thursday during the church service when some of his classmates from the Methodist Boys High School, MBHS, were called upon to render a song for him.
The late Pa Adeshola Lanipekun was later interred at the Ebony Vaults, Ikoyi Cemetary, Lagos.
Pa Fabio Adeshola Lanipekun was born in Lagos Island on March 2, 1942, to Pa Kareem Akinside Lanipekun and Alhaja Mutiat Abeni Folawiyo. He was the second of eight children born by his mother.
He began his formal education at Ansar-Udeen Primary school, Okepopo Lagos, and proceeded to Methodist Boys High School. MBHS for his secondary education from 1956-1961. It was during secondary school that he adopted the moniker “Fabio” which was the name of the central character in a romantic novel by Marie Correli titled ‘Vendetta’.
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At MBHS, he played on the outside left flank of the star-studded school team that won the Lagos Secondary Schools’ Cup(Principals Cup) in 1961. That year, he also won the long jump event at the MBHS inter-house sports. He subsequently went on to win the 1965-66 men’s singles event at table tennis at Regent Street Polytechnic, UK while studying there.
He began his career as a Sports Reporter with the Daily/Sunday Express before he travelled to the United Kingdom to study Sports Journalism
Upon his return, he worked as sub-Editor, Radio Nigeria, Western Nigeria Television, and Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service WNTV/WNBS in Ibadan in 1969. He became the first Nigerian journalist to head the sports unit of a television station in the country and the first television sportscaster in Africa.
He was promoted and transferred to Lagos in 1981 to join the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA where he later became the first Sports Manager of NTA.
He voluntarily retired in 1995. Upon retirement, he returned to the newspaper writing columns for Saturday Tribune, defunct Comet, and the Nation.
The late sports encyclopedia visited over 90 countries to cover sports. He was Nigeria’s voice to cover numerous sporting events on television including the Mosco 1980, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, and Barcelona 1992 Olympics. He also covered the Nigerian National Sports Festival in 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1988, 1990. He was a founding member, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN.
He won several awards including, the federal government National Sports Merit Award 2000, SWAN Recognition award as founding father of SWAN 2003, Lagos NUJ Media Legends award 2012.
