Boxers finally get home 21 years after

They were all there. Everybody that has something to do with Nigerian boxing, including retired and still active pugilists, gathered on Saturday to witness the delivery of the Minimah Boxing Hostel, a complex that is expected to serve different purposes for adherents of the sweet science of self defence.

Among other things, the hostel will serve as camp for Nigerian boxers before national and international competitions, as well as accommodation for stakeholders whenever the need arises.

Coming 21 years after its foundation stones were laid during the tenure of late Group Captain Brai Ayonote as chairman of the country’s amateur boxing body, the hostel, situated within the Brai Ayonote Boxing Complex, National Stadium, Lagos, was finally commissioned on Saturday by the president of the Nigerian Boxing Federation (NBF), Lt.

General Kenneth Minimah. The complex was initially known as the Brai Ayonote Boxing Hostel after the revolutionary late boxing chief who led the country’s boxers to glory at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

It became the General Kenneth Minimah Boxing Hostel when the current NBF boss singlehandedly ensured that the complex was completed within one year of his assumption of office.

Speaking at the commissioning of the complex, Minimah, who eulogised the late Ayonote for commencing the project before his unexpected demise, said he would have preferred the hostel to have remained in the name of the late Airforce officer but had to accept the honour on the recommendation of the leadership of the National Sports Commission (NSC).

Work began on the 30-bedroom hostel in June 2014 under the auspices of officers of the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers, and by February 2015, approximately eight months, the building, complete with modern housing facilities and utilities, was finished.

Among its appurtenances are a 300 KVA transformer, a 60 KVA generator and its own independent water supply system. The current Chief of Army Staff commended the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers for the beautiful job and also reserved special thanks for President Muhammadu Buhari “for his tireless support for sports development in the country.”

Minimah was also grateful to those who encouraged him “through text messages and phone calls,” and promised to further use the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers to carry out fresh rehabilitation work on the Brai Ayonote Boxing Gymnasium, which is also witching the complex.

Also speaking at the commissioning, NSC Director General, Mallam Al-Hassan Yakmut, praised both Minimah and the late Ayonote and offered to assist the boxing federation in the rehabilitation of its secretariat; a job Minimah had also offered to do with the help of the Army’s engineering corps.