Ighile, Channels' Sports Presenter, Dies

A top Nigerian sports journalist, Joseph Ighile, who until his death was Sports Manager of Channels Television, slumped and died while presenting a live programme Friday night in Lagos.

Joe, as he was fondly called, introduced the programme, but asked for a break on suspecting some discomfort and requested to be taken to the hospital straightaway. Few minutes after getting to the hospital, he was confirmed dead.

He was in South Africa at the start of the AFCON championship and even interviewed Keshi among other officials in Nelspruit before dashing home on official assignment.

On Friday night, he called the Super Eagles Media Officer, Ben Alaiya, to await his call for an interview on the popular Sports Tonite on Channels TV. It was while presenting the programme that he suddenly called for a break and reportedly slumped and died before help could come.

Ighile was a graduate of the then Bendel State University (now Edo State University), Ekpoma. He studied English and Literature. During his National Youth Service Corp period in Makurdi, Benue State, he received the Chairman's award at the end of his service year owing to his outstanding contributions to the Orientation Broadcasting Service (OBS) and also as a corps liaison officer at the NYSC secretariat.

Ighile's began his career in media from the Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS) as a content staff where he was involved in youth programmes in the early 1980s. His versatility earned him a job with disc engineering Ikeja, Lagos, where he was made the manager of broadcast in-charge of local contents before he joined Channels in 2003 as a reporter/producer.

He was the head of sports desk in-charge of all the sports programmes. He is survived by a wife and two children.