THE Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development on Friday formally received the rebuilt Moshood Abiola Stadium pitch and newly installed digital scoreboards from the Dangote Industries Group that renovated the ground after years of neglect.
The rehabilitation work was done under the “Adopt-a-Pitch” initiative of the minister Sunday Dare. During the formal handing over of the facility on Friday, the representative of the Chairman of Dangote Industries Group, Aliko Dangote, the Executive Director, Stakeholder Management and Corporate Communications of the Group, Alhaji Mansur Ahmed, stated that the transfer of the rehabilitated pitch is a testimony of the commitment of the company to sports development and supporting football.
“As we all know, Nigerian players are international class but until now, we didn’t have an international standard facility and our commitment is to work with the ministry to make sure that this particular facility remains of international standard,” he said.
“We are therefore happy to contribute by this renovation, and by the arrangement to maintain it for the next two years.”
The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar, praised the Dangote Group for believing in Dare’s vision, and the benefits of a Public-Private Partnership that works.
He restated the commitment of the ministry to ensuring that the new facility is put to productive use and properly maintained.
Former Super Eagles forward and Special Adviser to the President on Sports, Daniel Amokachi, commended the minister for his foresight and commitment to fixing the dilapidated pitch.
He appealed to the Dangote Group to consider extending the period of maintenance beyond two years, stating that after expending $1m to renovate the facility, long-term maintenance is paramount.
While receiving the formal handover documents from the Executive Director, Projects, Aron Nigeria Ltd, Soji Adeniji – the contractor handling the project – the minister lauded the contractor and the Dangote Group for completing the project in record time, despite constraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic
“By the words of the experts here and those that have toured the facility, we have the latest grass here – Paspalum grass – one of the best, when we talk about football pitches across the world,” Dare said.
“Something exactly similar to what we have in Qatar, that will be used for the World Cup next year.
“We thank Alhaji Aliko Dangote for opening his doors to us, and accepting to adopt the Moshood Abiola Stadium when we came up with our ‘Adopt-a-Pitch’ proposal. We salute his commitment that culminated in the completion of the project today, inclusive of maintenance for at least two years.”
The renovated pitch, aside from the new digital scoreboards, has a nursery being cultivated to produce fresh grass to replace withered ones when necessary, and sprinklers to keep the grass lush green all year round.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, while on a visit to the stadium recently, commended the quality of the new pitch and promised to facilitate the hosting of international matches on it.
Super Falcons coach Randy Waldrum also visited the stadium last week and requested the Nigeria Football Federation to move all the team’s home games to Abuja.
