Kayode Tijani, sports journalist, dies after protracted illness

Kayode Tijani, a veteran sports journalist, has died at the age of 55. 

A family source confirmed to TheCable that the journalist died on Wednesday at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

Tijani has been battling an undisclosed illness since 2019.

He was born on July 7, 1968. Aside from being a journalist, Tijani was also an archivist of Nigerian sports history.

He had over 29 years of experience as a print and broadcast journalist.

Tijani graduated with a diploma from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) in 1989.

He became the editor of FAME magazine at the age of 24. He then worked with Guardian Nigeria, Complete Sports, and Africa Soccer.

He also had spells with Raypower FM, MITV and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON).

Tijani also briefly worked with BEN TV in the UK, where he interviewed big football stars like John Barnes and Liverpool FC legend, among others.

He married Shade, his college sweetheart, over 20 years ago. The union produced three sons.

Tijani will be buried by 2 pm on Thursday at Atan Cemetery in Lagos according to Islamic rites.