Ex Judo Star Lukman “Rambo” Jinadu Dies In London

IKPO IGBINOBA

Former national judo star, Lukman Jinadu has died in London, United Kingdom.

Lukman who was popularly known as Rambo in his active days died during a brief illness. He was aged 60 years.

His friend who broke the tragic news in Lagos on Tuesday, Dominic Enyoghasim said the former judoka’s death took all by surprise.

“The death of Lukman is one shocking incident I will never recover from”, Dominic told PM Express fighting back tears.

After an illustrious judo career and a stint with weightlifting where he also made an impact, Lukman migrated to the United Kingdom in the early 80’s.
It didn’t take Lukman time to achieve success in the United Kingdom and in no time his security outfit joined the big league. The organisation provided jobs for several Nigerians.

Until his death, Lukman was the Baagbile of Gbagura, a community in Ogun State.

Reacting to his death, national judo coach, Edokpolor Ihaza said Lukman was a very disciplined judoka in his active days. Ihaza who nurtured the late Lukman fròm his rookie days as a judoka recalled that the he was a dynamo as a fighter.

According to him “Lukman was a great fighter and we named him Rambo. He took his training seriously and that explains why he dominated the 0-60 kg class like a colossus.

” It didn’t surprise me that he was very successful in his life. Every Nigerian judoka would miss Lukman because he was a source of inspiration”, Ihaza remarked.
For Dominic, the death of Lukman is a personal loss. According to him “Lukman was special to me. He was my best friend. During my wedding in the United Kingdom in 2002, he was my best man. He was too good to die.

“Lukman was humility, honesty and integrity all wrapped into one being. He was extremely kind. He was a man with a heart of gold”, Dominic added.

The late judoka is survived by a wife, who is a niece to former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu and two children.