By Martins Oloja

‘Football-crazy people with only one FIFA-approved stadium’.

There is a question that should embarrass Nigerian leaders and elite who claim to have developed Lagos and used same profile to capture power in Abuja, the capital of the federation. That question is: When will the powers that be in Abuja and Lagos revive Lagos and Abuja Stadiums in public interest? This is not a rhetorical question. It is a national shame. A recent survey report shows that of the more than 21 stadiums in Nigeria, only one is fit for FIFA purposes. Only one – the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

The most populous black nation on earth, with 240 million football-crazy people, cannot bid to host any football festival. Not AFCON, not U-20 World Cup, not even WAFU. Reason: we have no stadium. Meanwhile Morocco, with 38 million people, is now hosting FIFA office and facility in Africa. Morocco will co-host 2030 World Cup. They have 6 FIFA-standard stadiums. South Africa, with 60 million, hosted World Cup in 2010, has good premiership, good stadiums, SuperSport, and a league that pays. Nigeria – the Giant – is a giant in the sun without a pitch to play. This is a reproach. And it is time to call out the governing power that claims it developed Lagos. Once upon a time, there was a political signpost all over Lagos, “Sorry, it is a federal road”. Today, the Lagos power has been in office in Lagos and Abuja since 2015, sorry 2023.

‘The Shame of Surulere – National Stadium that Died since 1999.’
Since 1999 when democracy was activated, not one ruling party – PDP or APC – has been able to revive the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos. The National Stadium Surulere is not just a stadium. It is a monument. It was opened in 1972 by General Yakubu Gowon for the All-Africa Games of 1973. It hosted FESTAC 77. It hosted the Green Eagles vs Algeria in 1980 when we won our first Nations Cup. It hosted 1999 U-20 World Cup. It hosted Chief MKO Abiola’s Abiola Babes, Stationery Stores vs Enugu Rangers classics. It is where ‘Mathematical Segun Odegbami’ flew. Where Jay Jay Okocha danced. Where Rashidi Yekini scored. Today, what is Surulere National Stadium? A graveyard. The main bowl pitch is a bush where cows graze. The tartan tracks are torn and have become market for suya sellers. The floodlights don’t work. The swimming pool is a pond. The indoor sports hall roof has collapsed. Squatters live inside. Many sports ministers have come and gone: Ishaya Mark Aku, Bala Ka’oje, Sani Ndanusa, Bolaji Abdullahi, Solomon Dalung, Sunday Dare. None has been able to revive it. The last attempt by Sunday Dare to concession it to private sector ended in photo ops. The stadium is still dead. How can a country that boasts of largest economy in Africa not maintain a national monument? If Surulere National Stadium were in Morocco, King Mohammed VI would have made it world-class in 12 months. If it were in South Africa, it would be SuperSport’s headquarters. But in Nigeria, we abandon it and build new roads to it. But man shall not live by roads alone’.

‘The Lagos braggadocio: Centre of Excellencewith no Stadium’.
What of the so-called ‘centre of excellence’, Lagos – always boasting of largest economy after the federal government? Lagos says it has IGR of N1.2 trillion, bigger than 30 states combined. Lagos says it is a megacity. Lagos says it developed and used that development to capture power in Abuja in 2015 and 2023. Yet the almighty Lagos cannot afford to revive two stadiums one of which sits opposite the National Stadium. Lagos has Teslim Balogun Stadium opposite National Stadium Surulere, and Onikan Stadium – now Mobolaji Johnson Arena on Lagos Island.

Teslim Balogun Stadium – begun in 1984 by Governor Gbolahan Mudashiru, completed by Governor Bola Tinubu in 2007 – was supposed to be Lagos State’s answer to National Stadium. Today, its artificial turf is fake, torn, and dangerous. Players get injured. No VAR. No good dressing room. The floodlights are epileptic.

Onikan Stadium – renovated in 2019 and renamed – is beautiful on TV but small (10, 000 capacity), with limited facilities, no big parking, no good access road for 10, 000 fans. It is incredible that Lagos – that builds Eko Atlantic, that builds Blue Line, that is building Lekki Deep Sea Port – cannot build one 60, 000-capacity world-class stadium that can host Champions League final.

Look at this paradox: Lagos has over 20 million football fans. Lagos has 5 million youths who play football daily on streets, under bridges, in slums. Lagos has richest men in Nigeria who desire to own football clubs in Europe – Aliko Dangote tried to buy Arsenal, Kunle Soname owns Remo Stars with a small stadium in Ikene, Ogun State. Yet Lagos cannot give those youths one world-class pitch. The English Premier League makes $7 billion yearly. La Liga makes $4 billion. Football is business. Football is diplomacy. Football is entertainment. Lagos that says it is ‘Centre of Excellence’ should know that one good stadium creates 5, 000 jobs: groundsmen, security, hawkers, hotels, broadcasters, transporters.

But Lagos powers prefer to buy SUVs. They prefer to rehabilitate roads every year. Roads are good, but man shall not live by roads alone. A city without entertainment infrastructure is a labour camp. When will Lagos State authorities swallow its pride and vanity and call Qatar – that hosted World Cup in 2022 with whopping $220 billion – to come over to Lagos and help? Qatar is looking for African partners. Why can’t Lagos call Qatar to build Lagos Arena on PPP?
‘The Abuja shame – MKO Abiola Stadium that isn’t Abiola-worthy.’

What of the only stadium named after MKO Abiola – the Chief himself – in the nation’s capital, Abuja? The MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, built in 2003 for All Africa Games at the cost of $360 million, was once the pride of Africa. 60,491 capacity, velodrome, swimming pool, hostel. Today, it is a shadow. The pitch is patchy, bumpy, not watered. The floodlights fail during matches. Super Eagles vs Sierra Leone had to be moved because floodlights failed. The dressing rooms smell. The velodrome is abandoned. Cows graze outside. The only time it looks good is when government paints it for one match and after match, it dies again. When will there be political will to hand it over to Julius Berger to rebuild and maintain again as they have been maintaining the only acceptable one in faraway Uyo?

Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo is the only FIFA-approved stadium in Nigeria today. The reason is: Akwa Ibom gave maintenance to Julius Berger. They signed 10-year maintenance contract. Berger waters pitch daily, maintains floodlights, maintains seats. If Uyo – with less IGR than Lagos, Rivers, Delta – can do it, why can’t Abuja?

When will Mr. Project in Abuja – Minister Nyesom Wike, who is building roads everywhere – free some plots of land to develop modern stadiums in the capital of the federation? FCT has land. FCT has money. But Wike builds roads only. Roads are good, but what of youths who need stadiums to play? Abuja is the capital of 240 million. It should have at least two (2) world-class stadiums – one 60,000, one 30,000 – with training pitches. It has none that is truly world-class. This is another reproach.

‘Liberty Stadium Ibadan – The first in Africa abandoned ’
What of the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan – the first stadium in Africa?
Built in 1960 by Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Western Region government. 35, 000 capacity. First stadium in Africa to have floodlights. First stadium to host international match in Africa. It is history. It is heritage. Why can’t President Tinubu who is from South West – or Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo deploy funds to preserve that as a world-class stadium? Liberty Stadium is now called Obafemi Awolowo Stadium. Its pitch is bad. Its stands are cracked. Its scoreboard doesn’t work. The only thing working is the gate that collects money from social events. If Liberty Stadium were in Egypt – Egypt preserves Cairo International Stadium built in 1960 as heritage. If it were in Morocco, they would make it a FIFA museum. But in Nigeria, we abandon firsts. We abandon history. We abandon monuments. Oyo State has money. Oyo State built 76km Circular Road. Why can’t Oyo build one world-class stadium? Football is identity. Shooting Stars of Ibadan (3SC) – one of oldest clubs in Africa – plays too in that poor stadium. No wonder they struggle.
‘Why Nigeria can’t play host – The economics of shame’

Why can’t Nigeria bid to host AFCON again? We co-hosted 2000 with Ghana. Since then, we have not hosted because we have no stadiums. AFCON 2023 was in Ivory Coast – 6 stadiums. AFCON 2025 was in Morocco – nine (9) stadiums. AFCON 2027 will be in East Africa – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda – building six (6) new stadiums. Nigeria with 240 million cannot bid because of one reason: Only one stadium passes FIFA inspection.

FIFA inspection checks: Pitch quality (natural grass, drainage, watering), floodlights (minimum 1, 200 lux for HD broadcast), dressing rooms (minimum 4, with ice baths), VAR room, media tribune with internet, medical room, doping room, security control room, parking, access roads, evacuation plan, etc. Of 21+ stadiums in Nigeria – including those in Kano, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Bauchi, Jos – only Uyo passes. Why? Because we build stadiums as political projects, not as business. We commission with fanfare, no maintenance contract. After two years, pitch dies.

Morocco builds stadiums as business: They have SONARGES – a state company that builds and maintains all stadiums, with budget for maintenance. South Africa has Stadium Management SA. Nigeria has no Stadium Management Company. Each state governor builds his own stadium, abandons it when he leaves. Next governor builds new one elsewhere. Waste. This is why our national and local league teams perform poorly on national and global stages. How can Enyimba win CAF Champions League again when they play on bad pitch in Aba? How can Super Eagles play tiki-taka on bumpy pitch? Our national team just this week without Lookman and Osimhen drew with Russia on a good turf in Moscow. On good turf, we can play. On bad turf, we cannot. That is the spirit!

Football is global diplomatic weapon. When Morocco reached World Cup semi-final in 2022, its diplomatic power rose. When South Africa hosted World Cup in 2010, its tourism brand equity rose 300%. Football is business platform. A good stadium brings SuperSport, brings DSTV money, brings sponsorship. Nigeria has none. So our league is poor. Players run to Sudan, to Tanzania, to Vietnam for $500 monthl y.

‘The solution – Six stadiums in six zones, plus emergency on existing.’
How do we remove this reproach? Declare emergency on stadiums. President Tinubu should declare national emergency on sports infrastructure. Not just roads, not just fuel, not just education. Stadiums.
Create Presidential Task Force on Stadium Revival – with Dangote, Soname, Adebutu, Julius Berger, Qatar, private sector. Give them 24 months to revamp six stadiums.

‘Lagos and Abuja must lead.’
Lagos State authorities, specifically, must call Qatar. Qatar wants African allies after World Cup. Lagos wants to be global city. Partnership makes sense: Qatar builds 60, 000 Lagos City Stadium in Surulere complex, with mall, hotel, and maintains for 30 years, takes 70% revenue.

FCT Minister Wike – Mr. Project – must free some plots of land in Abuja to develop modern stadiums. Abuja has land in Karsana, in Kuje, in Idu. Build Abuja Sports City with two stadiums, 10 training pitches, indoor arena. Man shall not live by roads alone. A capital city needs entertainment city. When will our leaders remove this reproach?
To be continued…