He started Brila Sports, an independent programmes producing and sports consultancy with a ‘second hand’ table and chair and typewriter, in 1992.
Today, he is a broadcast mogul driven by the passion for sports.
This is the short but deeply compelling humble beginning of Larry Izamoje, who now qualifies for the title of "Nigerian Sportspaedia"
Larry is a study of tenacity of purpose and audacity of vision; he is the restless chief driver of 88.9 Brila FM, an affiliate of the Voice of America (VOA) and Africa’s first sports radio station founded in 2002, now broadcasting from Lagos and Abuja.
Nothing in his educational background suggested that Larry would become a media icon because he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (second Class Upper Honours) degree in Sociology.
However, early in life, he showed traits of greatness when during his National Youth Service (NYSC) in Kano State; he received the Kano State NYSC award for excellence.
In Kano, he was a corper member of the editorial board of the Kano State NYSC Newsletter in the 1984/85 service year.
Larry came back to Lagos and got a Master of Science degree in Sociology in 1986 from the University of Lagos and after that, there was no stopping for him.
He worked as a freelance sports reporter in the Outside Broadcast Unit, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), under the tutelage of Ernest Okonkwo of blessed memory.
Between 1986 and 1990, he worked with Concord Press in various capacities: as a Sports Reporter (1986-88), Enterprise Promotions Executive (1988-89) and Deputy Group Sports Editor (1989-90).
He then moved on to the now defunct Mail Newspapers where he was the Sports Editor; and Sports Manager at DBN TV, Lagos (1991-1992).
Larry is a member of such prestigious bodies as the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Institute of Directors (IOD), International Sports Journalists Union (AIPS), Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria (IBAN), the Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON).
He has also has served on quite a number of committees including the pro-league review committee 2000; Task Force for Super Eagles Preparation for 2000 Nations Cup; All Africa Games Logo Selection Committee, 2001; Nigerian Football Summit Planning Committee, 2002; Event Analysis team, Abuja 2003.
Recently honoured by the University of Lagos Alumni Association for his contributions to the Nigerian society through sports journalism, he has received other international and local awards among which are Sportswriter of the Year and Excellence Awards of the Sportswriters association of Nigeria (SWAN) in 1995 and 2005 respectively; Cambridge, England 21st Century Award for Achievement in Pioneering Sports Radio in Nigeria (2003), TeloComm Humanity Award for Service to the Disabled 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006; among others.
The man no doubt, is a living legend in his own right!
