Dare inspects MKO Abiola stadium again … orders illegal occupants evacuated
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare has again inspected the MKO Abiola National Stadium ahead of the planned renovation by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
It will be recalled that the Minister said he could not stampede the renovation as the project is a private project and the funds are coming from a private individual.
“We were on the verge of completing the documentation process before the novel covid19 struck out and we had to shut down the whole country, a global shutdown as the case may be.
“Remember, It’s a private investment, private support from Alhaji Dangote’s company and they have to go through a lot of processes, they have to invite up to 8 different contractors; They have to visit the stadium, they have to turn in their bill of quantity and they have to sit on a review board,” Dare said during the unveiling of the stadium on June 12.
Dare who was in with the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Gabriel Aduda and officials of the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCDA) had earlier met with the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammed Bello and Ministry staff to deepen the collaborative effort towards the upgrade and maintenance of the stadium.
“The stadium as it is is not just for sportsmen and women alone. It is built in such a comprehensive way that it is a city within a city with a 5,000 capacity parking lot, a 64,000 capacity sitting arena, 54 executive suites furnished, all locked up that can be rented and given out; about nine different football practice pitches, Olympic sized swimming pool and eight massive generators.
We have a stream that runs across it and a massive expanse of land to build a five-star hotel. We want to turn it into a piece of real estate and a sporting facility that will be the pride of this country and the pride of Africa and we think that the FCT will be a worthy partner,” he said.
The team inspected the facilities at Package A and Package B sections of the stadium which includes a table tennis court, swimming pool, velodrome, training pitch, badminton court among other facilities.
Meanwhile, the minister has ordered that any illegal occupants within the stadium be evacuated by 15th of July.