BILLIONAIRE businessman and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote on Thursday visited the Moshood Abiola National Stadium pitch.
Dangote financed the recent renovation of the stadium under the Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare’s Adopt-a-Pitch initiative.
Dangote expressed satisfaction with the job done, as he was conducted round the pitch with all the facilities in solid shape.
In his remarks, Dangote assured the sports minister of his continued support.
“You can rest assured of our continued support. You can always knock on our doors,” he said.
“We shouldn’t allow our stadia to collapse. Nigerians have a very strong love for sports, so I think we need to complement government’s efforts to ensure that everything works.”
Dare expressed appreciation to Dangote for accepting to adopt the stadium, stating that he was the first to embrace the ministry’s Adopt-a-Pitch initiative.
“I want to thank you for investing in the development of our sports and the fruit of that partnership has blossomed into what we see here today,” the minister said.
“I would like to inform you that we have just received CAF certification of this stadium for international matches, which means that the World Cup qualifiers next month will be played here. This wouldn’t have been possible without your support.”
The revamped Moshood Abiola Stadium is complete with nursery beds, two digital score boards, 24 sprinklers and two-year maintenance, all parts of the contract reached with Dangote Industries under the Adopt-a-Pitch Public Private Partnership initiative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
Daura Stadium in Katsina has also been completed, while the National Stadium in Lagos is scheduled to be completed in May.
