Again, refuse dumps take over National Stadium, Lagos

Delta official kicks over move to name monument after Keshi

As the debate on whether or not to rename the National Stadium, Lagos, after the late Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, rages, what appears a national embarrassment has emerged at the ‘Sports City,’ as refuse dumps have taken over some portions of the edifice.

There were indications last week that the Federal Government was considering renaming the National Stadium after Keshi as a way of immortalising him.

However, a top official of Delta State Sports Commission (home state of Keshi) has faulted the idea, drawing the Federal Government’s attention to Asaba Township Stadium, which had since been named after Keshi. The stadium in Asaba was renamed Stephen Keshi Stadium by former Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, shortly after ‘The Big Boss’ led the Super Eagles to win the 2013 African Nations Cup in South Africa.

“Is it possible we have two stadia in the same country bearing the name of Stephen Keshi?” jackpot the official queried while speaking with The Guardian yesterday. “There are several other ways to immoralise Keshi, if truly the Federal Government wants to do so.”

Meanwhile, a visit to the National Stadium located in Surulere, Lagos, yesterday will give any visitor the impression that Nigeria is a failed nation led by people that have lost their sense of value for history, decency and national pride.

Not less than six refuse heaps were spotted at different locations within the National Stadium complex, leaving the ‘Sport City’ environment filthy and Volleyball Betting unhealthy for users of the facility. One of such refuse dumps, which many fear could pose health hazards to users of the stadium, is located in the open space serving both the swimming pool and the indoor sports hall. The Federal Government is renovating the swimming pool.

A source at the stadium told The Guardian yesterday that the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) and the stadium management were having issues over alleged non-payment of money for refuse deposal at a particular site located in Iganmu.

“What we were told was that LAWMA stopped the stadium management from taking refuse to the site in Iganmu following non-payment of money. football prediction and analysis But that is sad because the food vendors and traders operating within the stadium pay their waste disposal money regularly to the stadium management,” the source told The Guardian.

The National Stadium, Lagos, richest football club an edifice that was once referred to as the pride of Africa, was built in 1972 at the beginning of oil boom in Nigeria during the regime of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.

The complex was built to host the 1973 edition of the All Africa Games, which Nigeria hosted for the first time. When it was built in 1972, the stadium had a capacity of 55,000, but was later reduced to 45,000 in 1999 in readiness for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The stadium played host to the 1980 African Nations Cup, where the then Green Eagles defeated the Desert Warriors of Algeria 3-0 to make history. That was when the National Stadium, Lagos recorded its highest attendance of 85,000 capacity.

Efforts to speak with the stadium management officials of the refuse dumps yesterday could not yield fruits.

Aside the swimming pool, the richest coach in the world which is wearing a new look, other parts of the National Stadium, particularly the main bowl has become a shadow of itself, after suffering from long time abandonment.

Several past and present sports ministers has formed the habit of coming to the stadium to make policy statements on how to save the edifice from continuous decay, but nothing concrete has been done to salvage it.

Recently, the incumbent Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, after a tour of the facility disclosed that a new plan for the edifice would be drawn soon, as part of efforts to rehabilitate neglected sports facilities across the country. But since that visit, Dalung, like his predecessors, have not done anything to bring the structure back to life.

One of the workers at the stadium, who pleaded anonymity, told The Guardian that the stadium has become one huge ‘beer palour,’ where all sorts of characters converge at night.

He accused the management of the stadium of only being interested in collecting money to rent parts of the stadium to all sorts of people, saying, “it does not matter the time of the day, any time you enter the stadium you will see different types of people doing all sorts of things at different corners of the arena.

“Churches take their turns on Sundays in different parts of the stadium, just as community meetings and festivals are held in most of the halls in the stadium. This negates the main purpose the stadium is expected to serve, which is sports development and promotion.

“One wonders what they do with the money they collect from motorists entering the stadium every day if they cannot pay for refuse disposal. It is a shame what they have turned the stadium into,” he said.