My husband is dying, Okorodudu’s wife cries for help

Ex-Olympic boxer needs financial assistance after a major operation

Nigeria’s ex-boxer and member of Los Angeles ’84 Olympic Games team, Jeremiah Okorodudu, is in need of financial assistance after undergoing a major operation in a Lagos hospital.

Okorodudu, who rose to prominence as one of the country’s most celebrated boxers in the 1980s, is said to be battling for survival at a private hospital in Ikorodu, Lagos.

His wife, Mrs. Nike Okorodudu, told The Guardian in a telephone chat yesterday that her husband needs urgent financial help to meet his medical bills.

“My husband has been sick for two months now, and we have spent all our finances. He has a big boil on his buttock and the doctors told us to deposit money before they will continue with the treatment. They carried out an operation on him this morning (yesterday). We don’t have any money at the moment. I am appealing to well meaning Nigerians to come to our aid,” Mrs. Okorodudu said.

Before his health challenges started about two months ago, Okorodudu had told journalists that the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports owed him several months unpaid salaries.

He said then that he had resorted to begging friends and relatives before he could eat and provide for his family.

“I have traveled to Abuja on several occasions and also written letters to the ministry but nothing is forthcoming. All they do is to keep referring me to different people in the ministry. I am dying of hunger and can no longer cater for my family because my salary has not been paid in the last 10 months. I have represented this country during my active years and should not be treated this way. This is bad,” Okorodudu had said.

It was not clear yesterday if the sports ministry had sorted out issues with Okorodudu before his recent health challenges began.Jerry Okorodudu started his amateur boxing in the late 1970s, and represented Nigeria in the middleweight category at the Los Angeles ‘84 Olympics.

He also participated in the Africa Boxing Championships and won two medals for Nigeria. At the Oluyole ’79 National Sports Festival held in Ibadan, Okorodudu won a gold medal, and later became the commander-in-chief in the national light heavyweight category in the 1980s.