THE Asoju-Oba of Lagos, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, is dead.
Aged 79, he died on Monday, according to the announcement by the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation.
He was the sponsor of the annual Asoju Oba of Lagos Table Tennis Championship.
The late Chief Okoya-Thomas, an accountant and industrialist par excellence, was born on June 8, 1935 in Lagos.
He had his early education, both the primary and secondary, at Princess School, Lagos (1942-1946) and Baptist Academy, Lagos (1956-1956) respectively, before proceeding to the Balham and Tooting College of Commerce, London, between 1956 and 1959.
In 1981, he studied at the Columbia University, in the United States of America.
The late Okoya-Thomas started work as an accountant at CFAO, Lagos, upon his return to Nigeria, before rising to become the director of the company in 1975, as well as the chairman in 1987.
He was also a director in several other business organisations like Transcorp, Nigerian Motors Industries Limited, Nigex Limited, Commercial Bank (Credit Lyonnais) Nigeria, Studio Press Nigeria Limited, among others.
The late Okoya-Thomas was also a member of many development organisations and Chambers of Commerce.
Okoya-Thomas, a philanthropist of note, was an ardent lover of sports, and he promoted several sports, especially table tennis and lawn tennis, which were his hobbies, with his resources.
Okoya-Thomas held different traditional titles, including the Asoju Oba of Lagos, Odofin of Ile-Ife, Babasuwa of Remoland, among others.
He also held the Member of the Federal Republic (MFR), a national honour given to outstanding people in the country.
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