Dare bemoans irregular maintenance of sporting facilities

  The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has blamed Monday’s collapse of one of the floodlights at the Lagos National Stadium in Surulere on lack of regular maintenance of the country’s sporting facilities. The floodlight collapsed hours after a thunderstorm accompanied by a rainstorm but without any casualty being recorded. In his […]

 

The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has blamed Monday’s collapse of one of the floodlights at the Lagos National Stadium in Surulere on lack of regular maintenance of the country’s sporting facilities.

The floodlight collapsed hours after a thunderstorm accompanied by a rainstorm but without any casualty being recorded.

In his reaction, Dare said the stadium was abandoned for 19 years without any sponsor or substantial budget to revive the edifice while hitting hard at nine of his predecessors who ‘failed to lift a finger’ to fix the stadium which had segments of the seating terraces already suffering structural defects.

“While the damage and exact cost of Monday’s unfortunate incident is being awaited, it is sad to digest how the stadium in Surulere Lagos, which treasures a substantial portion of our rich sports history, and the folklore of our past football glory, was left to waste and decay by successive administrations,” he said.

However, the minister noted that since his appointment, he had sought for the rehabilitation of parts of the stadium which included the football pitch, athletics tracks and electronic scoreboard with the procurement and payment to contractors handled solely by the sponsor, Sir Kesington Adebutu (Baba Ijebu)

Dare, while giving an update on ongoing efforts by the ministry under his watch to refurbish obsolete stadiums and sports facilities, estimated that N21bn will be needed to fully bring the Lagos National stadium back to life with modern updates.

Meanwhile, the Minister on Thursday asked the Director of Facilities in the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development, Engineer Analamu, to proceed to Lagos to assess the situation on ground.