PUNCH
ABIODUN SANUSI writes about the deplorable state of the swimming pools at the Moshood Kashimawo Abiola Stadium, Abuja, the filthy environment, and the poor management of the facilities
Asides from the filthy environment especially around the outdoor sports fields and tracks, resulting from poor waste management and open defecation, the 2000-capacity swimming arena at the Moshood Kashimawo Abiola Stadium, formerly known as the National Stadium, Abuja, is in a deplorable state.
The water in both swimming pools is untreated, while the smaller pool is infested with frogs, toads, and other reptiles, amphibians, and waste materials such as nylons and plastics, among other things.
The stadium was renamed by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, after Bashorun MKO Abiola who contributed N11m to its construction when the stadium was launched in 1989.
Built by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to host the eighth All-Africa Games, Abuja 2003, the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, was a pride of the nation and the African continent at the time.
The first match played in the main bowl of the stadium was between former African champions, Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan and their South-Western rivals, Sunshine Stars of Akure.
However, the Oluyole Warriors, as players of the Ibadan-based club were fondly called, won with a lone-goal victory, and the 3SC striker, Shakiru Lawal made history as the first footballer to score a goal at the magnificent stadium on April 8, 2003, in front of a large crowd of spectators, including Obasanjo.
The stadium, which was built between September 2000 and April 2003 at the cost of $360m, was a world-class structure that was ranked among the top 50 most expensive stadiums in the world.
It was constructed by construction giant, Julius Berger, and consisted of Package A and Package B. It served as a home to the Nigerian national football team, as well as a centre for various social, cultural, and religious events.
Package A comprises an all-covered main bowl with 60,491 seating capacity with other facilities such as the presidential suite and viewing area, 56 corporate suites, modern turnstiles, banks, media facilities, two electronic scoreboards, floodlights and a helipad.
Apart from having a VIP car park and a public parking lot, Package A also boasts of standard practice pitches, a velodrome, shops and kiosks, generators, emergency service units, closed circuit security cameras and crowd control steel fencing, among others.
These facilities, among others, made the stadium, a national pride. The stadium played host to some big football matches, including the international friendlies between the Super Eagles and their counterparts from Brazil and Argentina.
The MKO Abiola Stadium also played host to the 2009 U-17 World Cup.
However, checks by our correspondent in May 2023, indicated that most of the facilities at the complex, built at a whopping $360m in 2003, had deteriorated while the environment looked unkempt, rough with grasses growing all over parts of the walkways and parking lots, and frogs and toads residing in its swimming pools, due to abandonment and poor management.
