Endless wait for the return of Abuja national stadium

The idea of building a giant stadium in Abuja was for Nigeria to provide the facilities that would qualify her to host the 8th All Africa Games in 2003, a continental multi-sport event that holds every four years and is organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA). Besides the venue serving […]

The idea of building a giant stadium in Abuja was for Nigeria to provide the facilities that would qualify her to host the 8th All Africa Games in 2003, a continental multi-sport event that holds every four years and is organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA).
Besides the venue serving as host for Nigeria’s international football matches, the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 2004 National Sports Festival, the stadium has become the home to cultural and religious events, a development that has resulted in the untimely demise of the sport edifice, as the 60, 0000 capacity main bowl of the stadium eventually lost its surface and had to be awarded to Julius Berger for renovation.
Consequently, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) was compelled to take matches involving the nation’s national football teams to Calabar, Port-Harcourt, Kaduna and Kano among other cities. The UJ Esuene stadium has hosted all Super Eagles 2014 World Cup qualifying matches.
Renovation work on the main bowl of the Abuja national stadium has since commenced but ports loving Nigerians have continued to wait endlessly for action to resume at the multibillion facility, as construction giants, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC has postponed thrice the hand over date for the project to the National Sports Commission.
Before the new September deadline, sports minister Bolaji Abdullahi had reassured that the stadium will be ready for use by the end of August, raising hope that the Super Eagles would play their next set of World Cup qualifiers at the prestigious sport arena.
“I had pledged that the Abuja National Stadium would be ready by the end of August and God willing we will keep to our promise,” Abdullahi said. As you can see the stadium pitch is taking shape every passing day. However I cannot say whether or not the Eagles next game would be at the Abuja Stadium. It is up to the Eagles coach and the NFF to decide where to hold the game,” Abdullahi had said.
The sport edifice was to be handed over in May, but later shifted to June and then August, but Nigerians are still waiting, as the Sports Commission has now assured that the job will be completed next month.
Also Director of Facilities at the NSC, Ibrahim Shehu had assured that the stadium would be ready for use in August, as he said according to the comprehensive rehabilitation of the main-bowl pitch of the stadium is almost completed.
According to Shehu, the contractor Julius Berger PLC has completed the first phase of the work, which includes removal and replacement of the topsoil, and planting the approved specie of grass.
“Where we are at present, is the nurturing of the grass and this will terminate on August 15 this year,” He had said.
He also stated that the main pitch of the stadium would be ready for use from that date.
However, the Special Assistant on Media to the Sports Minister, Mr. Julius Ogunro, who spoke to SHOT! on the matter, said the construction firm will manage the stadium for a period of six months, after the completion of the ongoing rehabilitation work at the edifice before the final hand over early next year.
Ogunro said that the six-month supervision would be in conjunction with the National Sports Commission (NSC), as Berger would also train the Commission’s personnel in the art of maintaining the stadium before the proper hand-over of the facility.
According to Ogunro, the supervision and maintenance phase would take effect from September when the actual work would be completed to March next year.
He also informed that the NSC has made arrangements to ensure that the stadium was well maintained after the expiration of the six month partnership, as he said “the mainbowl of the stadium does not go back to its previous bad state.
“The main issue we had before was that the power cable that supplied light to the stadium got bad and because of that, we could not get water to wet the pitch. As a result, the grass on the football pitch dried up and weeds started growing on it.
“Now, we have a standby manual tanker to ensure that the pitch is well watered for the grass to be alive. The contractors will also train some of our staff on the maintenance of the lawns after hand-over,” Ogunro said.
In addition to that, Ogunro said that the Minister had directed the NSC Director of Stadia and Facilities, as well as the stadium manager, to come up with a schedule of activities for the maintenance of the facility.
Besides, he said the relocation of the minister’s office from the Federal Secretariat to the stadium is a calculated effort to keep the place busy, in addition having regular sporting activities at the venues.
“The minister has relocated to the stadium and because we are here, there is life in the stadium; everybody is doing what they should. If matches are played every week or bi-weekly, then the stadium will be active and you will also see the need to maintain it,” Ogunro said.
For now the wait for the return of the mainbowl of the Abuja national stadium continues. Consequently, the Super Eagles will on September 7 play the Flames of Malawi at the UJ Esuene stadium Calabar in the final qualifying match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup