‘How touts live, turn National Stadium, Lagos to drug joints’

Because of the abandonment of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, street urchins otherwise known as area boys  have turned it to their homes, drug joints and a breeding ground for criminality, our investigation has revealed.

The national stadium Surulere which supposed to be an edifice for national pride and a centre for sports and youths development has been abandoned since 2004.

Our findings show that the main bowl of the stadium has been taken over by touts, who collect money from athletes and individuals who went there for training or to do exercise.

Those who spoke to our correspondent during his visit to the National stadium, on Friday, January 10, 2020, called on the government to consider the renovation of the stadium as a priority. “The stadium is in a serious dilapidated situation and need urgent attention.”

Some of the coaches who spoke to our correspondent under anonymity said because of the dilapidated situation of the stadium, touts and hooligans hide under this guise to carry out their acts.

“Touts have taken over the stadium. Those who came to train are asked to pay before they are allowed to train.

“The stadium has been abandoned and the situation is getting worse by the day. The stadium need urgent attention and government should think about renovating it. Though we have been hearing of government promising to renovate the stadium, but nothing has been done.

“The situation in the national stadium is affecting sports development in Nigeria, especially Lagos. This stadium has produced a lot of sports stars in Nigeria and it should not be abandoned like that.

When asked whether the Stadium is serving the purpose of which it was built, our source close to the office of the Stadium Manager who pleaded anonymity answered in affirmative.

He said the stadium in spite of its dilapidated situation is serving the purpose of which it was built adding that the stadium has been hosting series of local sporting activities to sharpen the skills of our sportsmen and women and referred us to the ongoing Women Amalgamation Football completion organized by the Association of Nigeria Women Football Club Coaches, going on on the Legacy pitch of the stadium.

Speaking to Blueprint on the situation of the stadium, the Head Coach, Raptors Basketball Club/Academy, Charles Ibeziako, decried the bad state of the stadium, calling on the government to rise to their responsibility by awarding contract for the renovation of the stadium.

According to him, “honestly, the situation in the stadium is so bad. I grew up in Lagos before I went to America. I lived at Iponri. I am a lover of football and I used to come to the stadium and watch football whenever there is a match. At that time the situation of the stadium was okay.

“I was in America for 21 years and when I came back and I saw the situation of the stadium, I was so disappointed.

“National Stadium, Sulurere, is such a big place that would be yielding huge revenue for Federal government if properly managed; but now the stadium is so bad especially when you go into the main bowl, it is nothing to write home about – Touts are staying over there, some of them doing drugs and some using it as their own home. It is a very bad situation.

“We keep on saying it is Nigerian mentality. We can be a big thing in the world. The problem we are having here is lack of maintenance culture. A lot of people are benefiting from this stadium from year to year; people are coming here to do their trainings and some people are doing business – there are shops which are given out for revenue but the present state of the stadium is affecting all these. I don’t know whether all the monies collected from the shop operators are remitted to the government.

“What is killing us here in Nigeria as I said earlier is maintenance culture. I lived in America for many years and I know how they managed their stadium.  In United States of America (USA) where I was, stadiums are managed by private companies.
“It is not only Surulere national stadium that is bad. When I went to Abuja Stadium recently, the situation there is also bad. All these stadia are Olympic standard, but are not maintained.

“When Governor Ambode of Lagos State was still in power, he came over here to see the situation, and promised that he will renovate part of the stadium but up till today, nothing has happened.”

On whether there is plan by government to concession the stadium to any private company, he said for the interest of sports lovers and athletes, it should not be given to the private company because there will be restrictions and the poor athletes will not be allowed to come in here and train.

He said the stadium is like a national cake, everybody has the right to come here and train and if it is given to private company, there will be restriction and a lot of people will be deprived of that opportunity.

On whether the stadium is serving the purpose of which it was built, he said: “For now no, because when the Super Eagles or any national team is having their match in Nigeria, they look for the new stadium like the one built in Delta by Governor Okowa. What about this place? I grew up here and I know how it used to look like. We can put it in order and make it functional again.

“I know that Surulere people like football and it used to be a wonderful moment especially when the national team is playing.

“I want to use this medium to call on the Federal Government to revisit this stadium because they have spent a lot of money. This stadium was built in 70s after the civil war, I can remember. Then it was one of the best stadiums in the whole world. It should not be abandoned like that.

It would be recalled that four years ago the then Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, had  during a news conference while receiving the drawings of the new concept for the stadium in Abuja promised the rehabilitation of the stadium.
“We are here to receive drawings of the new concept of the National Stadium in Lagos. When we assumed responsibility, our determination was to invest our energies more on trying to complete all uncompleted projects.

“We are not interested in making names in abandoned projects, but will want to be remembered for giving our modest contributions to complete those projects that were abandoned,’’ he said.

The Sports Minister noted that the stadium was very critical to the country’s sports development. But in spite of this, nothing has changed, no renovation has taken place.

The Lagos National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria is a multi-purpose which comprises an Olympic-size swimming arena and a multipurpose arena used for basketball, volleyball, table tennis, wrestling and boxing matches. It was used mostly for football matches until 2001. It hosted several international competitions including the 1980 African Cup of Nations final, the 2000 African Cup of Nations final, and FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. It also served as the main stadium for the 1973 All-Africa Games. It was closed and abandoned in the year 2004.

According to Wikipedia, when the stadium was built in 1972, it had a capacity of 55,000. The capacity was then reduced to 45,000 in 1999. The record attendance is 85,000 and occurred in the final match of the African Cup of Nations in 1980 between Nigeria and Algeria. For unknown reasons, the National Stadium has been left to dilapidate since 2002. It last hosted a national team game in 2004. It is now occasionally used for religious gatherings and has been taken over by area boys and squatters. In 2009, the National Sports Commission began a concerted effort to bring the facility back to world class status.