NationalMirror A nation’s stadium now beer parlour by TAYO ADELAJA on Oct 12, 2014 | Posted under: Big Read, Highlights The National Stadium that was once a national monument and the pride of the nation is now a shadow of its old self, having been reduced to one huge drinking bar and a haven for hoodlums. For long, it has been abandoned. When and how did the stadium get to this sorry state? What can be done to revive it? Tayo Adelaja, Head Special Investigations, catalogues the woes of the stadium and what need to be done to bring it back to life. Looking at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos from afar, it is a monument that is beautiful to behold. Moving closer to the edifice, the revelation of decay that has taken place as a result of longtime neglect by successive sports administrations became apparent. It is actually an expose of how a national monument has been allowed to go into a state of total disrepair following poor management which has also resulted in the slow growth of sports in the country. The stadium is now one huge drinking bar and an amusement park following years of neglect by the owner, the Federal Government of Nigeria. Some parts of the stadium have been taken over by grasses, while other parts now harbour rodents, algae and other elements that make the sports arena an eyesore. When the stadium was commissioned in 1973 by the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, it was the cynosure of all eyes as it was one of the best stadia in Africa, at the time. According to reports, the National Stadium that was specifically built to host the multi-sport 2nd All Africa Games in 1973 with 45,000 capacity, was a beauty to behold when the gates were flung open to visitors and participants. Then the nation’s seat of power was in Lagos State, hence it was not a surprise when General Gowon led the entire country to the gigantic complex to welcome the rest of the continent to the sports summit. The Lagos stadium had all sporting facilities, such as an imposing main bowl, an Olympic-size swimming pool, a multipurpose indoor sports hall, tennis courts, squash courts, practice pitches, association building and a games village, which is located about a kilometre away. The stadium later became a Mecca for Nigerian sportsmen and women, including foreign athletes, hosting several local and international sporting events. Interestingly, the edifice hosted the 1980 Nations Cup finals, which was won by Nigeria. The record attendance of 85,000 was taken in that final match of the Cup of Nations between Nigeria and Algeria. In 1999, the stadium’s capacity was increased to 55,000 as Nigeria hosted the FIFA World Youth Championship that was won by Spain, African Nations Cup in 2000, which Nigeria co-hosted with Ghana, the U-20 World Youth Championship and the U-17 FIFA World Cup. The stadium was getting all the attention it deserved from the authorities then as those at the helm of affairs of Nigerian sports were in Lagos. No sooner had the Sports Ministry moved its headquarters to Abuja, Lagos now became the Liaison Office, than the neglect of the stadium started. The completion of the ultra modern National Stadium, Abuja, by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was the final straw. All the attention shifted to Abuja during the All Africa Games hosted in 2003, the Lagos Stadium was relegated to the background. The LG Cup was the last football tournament hosted in the national stadium, Lagos in 2004. Aside from football, the stadium was the Mecca for boxing in Africa and hosted several world title bouts in its heyday. All that seems a distant memory, most children born in the late 1990s may not know that the Sports city, as it is called, was once the pride of Africa, which hosted some of the world’s biggest events because it is now a shadow of its old self. The stadium is now a choice venue for religious gatherings and community meetings, as well as home to displaced individuals, while the main entrance to the main bowl is a drinking bar. Only traditional African worshippers have not taken their worship centre and program to the stadium. It has become an arena turned into hoodlums’ den. Some who claimed to be athletes, according to investigation, use the cover of the arena to perpetrate evils both in the day time and at night. Apart from harbouring men and women of questionable characters, the walls of some facilities like the main bowl, swimming pool and indoor sports hall are riddled with cracks, while most of the roofs are now leaking owing to neglect. The gym used by weightlifters and boxers is in total mess and obsolete. Part of the problem of the main bowl is that of leakages which affect all the offices, stores, workshops and lockup shops. The electronic scoreboard in the stadium has become obsolete, and now an antiquity fit for museum. The stadium also serves as a parking lot for the Teslim Balogun Stadium across the street, which is now the place of choice for international matches billed for Lagos, as a result of its playing surface which is artificial and less difficult to maintain. A sports enthusiast, Henry Ndem, speaking with Sunday Mirror at the entrance of the Stadium, lamented the neglect of the stadium. He recalled the memory of matches he watched and the rich history of the stadium. His words: “This was the scene of Nigeria’s first continental triumph at the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations. It is this same stadium our legends in football like Segun Odegbami, Chairman Christian Chukwu, the late Muda Lawal, Adokiye Amiesimaka, Henry Nwosu, Emmanuel Okala, the late Best Ogedegbe, Felix Owolabi and others made Nigeria proud. They made their name playing in this stadium. This was where they defeated Algeria 3-0 in that memorable final in 1980. Many of us who were not opportune to watch that match then were told of the heroic exploits of these great footballers. My father always told me the story of that epic final and some other matches played at this stadium. “Even if I didn’t see Odegbami run the flanks in his mathematical style then, I can vividly recall Austin Okocha’s mesmerising dribbles now when Nigeria co-hosted the tournament with Ghana. How can I forget Julius Aghahowa’s goal against Senegal that rescued Eagles from elimination in the quarter finals? The memory of Sunday Oliseh playing in those days still lingers on. Was it the scene of Kanu Nwankwo’s memorable penalty misses against Cameroon in that final? It was the venue where Samuel Eto’o and Patrick Mboma confounded our entire country and we as spectators wished that the scores be reversed or better put that it was a bad dream. It was sad that those stars of our days could not reignite the 1980 magic in that match I watched at this stadium; rather it was Rigobert Song of Cameroun that lifted the AFCON trophy in our very presence in Surulere. Can you imagine seeing same stadium in this state? Speaking in a sad tone, Ndem lamented the fate of this national monument, “At the National Stadium, you can buy all your soup ingredients without stepping out of the premises. There is a chemist shop here now; there is also a pure water manufacturing shop here.” He attributed the state of the Sports city to the failure of those charged with its upkeep to carry out their responsibility, “Money is budgeted for the maintenance of the facilities every year, yet nothing is done at the stadium. I can also say without fear of contradiction that the stadium generates a lot of money daily, but nothing is ploughed back into its maintenance. “They make more than N1,000,000 from just a church program, which hires a section of the stadium for its events. Then, on daily basis they make a lot of money from motorists, who enter the stadium. A car pays N100 before it is allowed into the stadium. Rather than plough the money back into the stadium, they sell off most of the facilities without taking care of it. It is sad!” Also lamenting the state of the stadium, a former national table tennis player and the first Nigerian female table tennis umpire to be invited to officiate at the Commonwealth Games, Cecilia Arinye, described the facility as a national monument and among the best sports facilities in the world when it was built. “When the stadium was commissioned in 1973, we were away in China on a six-month training exercise and when we returned, we were so excited at the facility because it was a pride for us,” Arinye said. “Most of the national and international tournaments were played at the indoor hall, which was a beauty to behold for every athlete. I could also remember that Nigeria hosted the second Afro-Asia Games at the stadium after Mexico hosted the maiden edition. We used the Lagos National Stadium and it was a huge pride having such an edifice that could boast of so many facilities. “The indoor hall was our second home because we spent a lot of time there, even late into the night, as the whole area was well lit. The stadium was a Mecca for sportsmen at that time.” Ex-international and Board Member of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Waheed Ekun, who was among the first set of athletes that used the hostel at the stadium, said the decency of the facilities attracted a lot of athletes. According to him, “in 1973, during the All Africa Games in Lagos, I was a junior player and for us then, the stadium was a place to be because, before then we never had the opportunity to use such facility. “As a table tennis player, we were used to Alakoro Sports Centre on Lagos Island, as well as Rowe Park at Yaba, but when the stadium was commissioned, we were so excited that we spent much of our time there. Entering the stadium alone made you want to remain there forever, as the whole place was neat and all facilities were in place. “Though the knock-up hall was not there then, the indoor hall was where every player wanted to be. I was among the first set of athletes that used the stadium hostel, which now accommodates the National Institute for Sports (NIS). “All the rooms in the hostel were fully air-conditioned, just as all the facilities were working well. The hostel hosted all athletes during the ECOWAS Games in 1977 and it was indeed a place to be for athletes across the country. “I think those in charge of the stadium got their priority wrong by turning it into a trading centre where all sorts of shops are allowed to operate. “They have also altered the initial master plan of the stadium with the construction of illegal structures within the facility. It is pathetic that the stadium that was once rated among the best in Africa is now a laughing stock to others and a shame to the nation.” An ex-Super Eagles fringe player who also played for Iwuanyanwu Nationale now Heartland FC of Owerri, Gbenga Moses, popularly called GM, declared that, “the Lagos National Stadium was what Wembley is to the English teams, just like the Maracana Stadium to the Brazilian. At the Challenge Cup, it was a thing of pride for a team to play at the stadium because most of the finals were played in Lagos. The stadium was one of the best in Africa then and every team wanted to play there. It is sad that it has been abandoned to rot away. Instead of finding a lush green pitch that should be a tribute to the big stars that had played on its surface in the past, all that is left is a bumpy surface with tufts of grass scattered all over. You could feel it undulating under your shoes. “The stands where many fans sat to cheer the national team and watch their football heroes have gone bad. Seats have been uprooted all over the stadium. Refuse lines the underground dressing room. Toilets are overflowing with human waste. The tartan tracks where Olympic medallists Mary Onyali and Falilat Ogunkoya once created records have potholes in them.” Investigation by Sunday Mirror revealed that the handball pitch has now become an amusement park. The dressing room at the main bowl has been partitioned into offices, while the swimming pool is now an arm of a Chinese Restaurant. The same fate has befallen the Games Village at Eric Moore, Lagos. Just a few meters away from Hogan Bassey’s grave, is a large expanse of land which has been turned into a garbage bin. The land, which shares a fence with the Nigeria Boxing Federation office, emits a foul stench. The exit gate at Onitana, Iyun Road, Surulere, has been abandoned and it is also overgrown with weeds. It was learnt that hoodlums, who steal items from the stadium use the gate as their escape route. The Olympic-size swimming pool is in a dilapidated state. Most Nigerians that spoke with Sunday Mirror wondered why successive governments failed to maintain the edifice over the years. Olalomi Musibau, a civil servant in Abuja, noted that even the Abuja National Stadium which was built for $360 million has begun to experience the same fate as that of the National Stadium, Lagos. Speaking further, GM said, “When Taoheed Adedoja took over the Sports Ministry, many stakeholders expected the Oyo State-born professor to make the difference since he came from the academia. But he made little or no impact on the facilities before he was replaced. A sport analyst, Ephraim Eze, declared that the poor state of the stadium was a reflection of the state of the nation. “It should be a national pride and should be in top shape every time. But it also shows how we put square pegs in round holes. The wrong people are always put in sensitive areas they know nothing about,” he said. The Federal Executive Council had in September 2012 set up a committee to look into the mode of maintenance of federal stadia and to develop a sustainable funding framework for sports in general. That Committee in turn set up a technical sub-committee, which would in collaboration with the Bureau of Public and Enterprise and Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission recommend the most viable option for the maintenance of the six federal stadia according to a statement from the sports ministry. The technical committee recommended the involvement of private sector participation in the management and operations of the stadia with concession as the preferred approach. It also recommended that the concession of the federal stadia should start with the National Stadium, Lagos. In January, 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan was reported to have approved the concession of the National Stadium in Lagos. The then minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, was expected to constitute the Project Steering Committee and the Project Delivery Committee, which will liaise with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to draw up modalities for the concession. Stakeholders were miffed by what they saw as deceit, in view of the fact that the stadium had already been ‘sold’ albeit piecemeal to certain individuals and concerns, just as they wondered what would happen to these businesses that are already operating in the stadium, if and when government effected the concession. A stakeholder who spoke on anonymity wondered how many years the concession as a way of arresting the dilapidation and decay the stadium had sunk into will take. He said that since it first came up in 2012, nothing concrete was done till date. The reaction of stakeholders was that of apathy and clearly shows their state of mind in respect of the concession. “It is a shame. It shows that there is no direction as usual. What do they mean by concession when the stadium from all indications is already under concession,” Tony Ubani, a member of the board of the Nigeria Olympic Committee commented. “What are Ojez and Old Skool doing at the stadium? Ojez for instance already owns half of the stadium. They sold the place before coming out with the concession plan. There is nothing wrong with concessioning by the way, but it must be done properly through competitive bidding, openly so that there will be a level playing field for everyone interested. “But as it is now, interested parties are already operating in the place. The process will not be open; that is my worry and ironically it is the NSC that has been giving the stadium away to these interested parties. Again, who says another minister won’t come on board tomorrow and stop the whole process?” Sports commentator, Ikeddy Isiguzo, said that concession plan or not, the important thing was to do something about the state of the stadium, regardless of whatever name it is called. “There is nothing to be excited about as far as I am concerned because this is not the first time they are coming up with that kind of thing. Whether it is a form of management partnership, concession, outright sale or by whatever name it is called is not the important thing. What should concern and interest Nigerians is that the arrangement is done in such a way that the facility will be well managed, going forward and importantly it will still be used for sports,” Isiguzo emphasized. GM argues that the longer the stadium remains with the government, the more dilapidation it will suffer, given government’s failure to rise to its responsibility. He stated that, “It is very important that Nigerians know what the private concerns that get the concession right wants to do with the stadium. The National Stadium is a national icon that evokes a lot of memories and emotions and people want to be sure that it will remain a venue for sporting activities. “The fact that the stadium in Lagos can be neglected to that extent is something that is worrisome. That fact also makes it imperative to explore all available options as government has shown over time that it is incapable of managing anything. In England, for instance, the stadiums are maintained by government or counties as the case may be. Patrick Omorodion, spokesman of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, maintains that government has failed woefully on the issue of maintaining the Stadium, not only in Lagos but also the relatively newer one in the Federal Capital Territory. “That stadium in Lagos is a sad reminder of government’s inability to manage or maintain its facilities. Even the one in Abuja, right under their noses, has already begun to suffer from neglect. Omorodion, however, supported the idea that it was a better option to give it out to those who can manage it well. Since the commencement of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, Nigeria has had about 15 sports ministers, all of who virtually did nothing to give the facility a facelift. In 2012, the House Committee on Sports visited the facilities and promised to facilitate the repairs of the pools, which dried up three years earlier. The Chairman, Sports Committee, Godfrey Gaiya, was among the over 20 government officials that have visited the Sportscity since 1999 and promised to see that the edifice is fixed. Honourable Gaiya after the visitation described the condition of the Stadium, in Surulere, as not encouraging, adding that the facilities in general are in serious level of decay. “Obviously, I am not satisfied; certainly no Nigerian will come here and be happy with what is here. This should be our national edifice, this is a place that one should come in and say, yes, I have come to the National Stadium of Nigeria, but seeing what is on ground, certainly nobody is happy about it. “We have seen a very serious decay and the monument that should have been the pride of this country in a very bad state. We have interacted with the management of the stadium and we have heard their prayers to which they believed if such prayers were answered, this stadium can be transformed to the level where we all want it to be. You can see that regrassing has to be done, the stands and other facilities are in a state of decay, there are leakages here and there, the tartan track is wearing off; to get it back like we see in other countries, we must plant grass, it means we must put a new tartan track, it means we must provide cover in the seating arena so that we can prevent leakages, these I think is possible. “As I said the other time, the Federal Government should look at this sector and declare an emergency, particularly on our national stadia. If the emergency is declared with the view of the presidential intervention where all these edifice that are rotting away should properly be put in good shape before handing over for proper management, I think it is a better thing for this nation,” he said. GM in agreement with Gaiya implored the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency immediately in the entire stadium, particularly the Lagos Stadium. His words: “If a state of emergency is declared with the presidency intervening directly to save the edifice from further rot and put every other things in proper shape before thinking of handing it over to private persons for proper management, I think it’ll be better for this country. “ I am convinced that there is no policy that permits willful damage of national monument, no policy worth its onion will allow or encourage wastage. The Federal Government should remember that tax payers’ money has been spent to put up this edifice; the National Stadium is our collective asset and wealth. The government should rise up to their responsibility.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 13:29:32 +0000
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