Kwara Governor Renames Ilorin Stadium after Rashidi Yekini

• Sends bill to formalise it to Kwara House of Assembly

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

At last, Nigeria’s football icon, Rashidi Yekini is on the verge of being honoured with the renaming of the Kwara Sports Stadium in Ilorin after him.

Yekini who died on May 12, 2012 in Ibadan at the age of 48 years, remains Nigeria’s best ever forward to don the national jersey.

Yesterday, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who visited the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare in his office in Abuja, confirmed that the process of renaming the Ilorin Stadium after Yekini has began..

Governor AbdulRazaq announced that progress has been made in immortalising the football icon, Rashidi Yekini by naming the Kwara State Sports Complex Stadium in Ilorin after him.

He said: “ We will send a bill to the State House of Assembly to immortallise Rashidi Yekini with the name of the stadium changing after the approval.”

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare had reminded the governor about the series of letter that the Ministry wrote to the Kwara State Government for the immortalisation of the late football legend. Mr. Dare had urged the Kwara State Governor to sustain his support for sports development while noting that sports help to reduce social vices.

“I want to thank his excellency for hosting our biggest youth game in Ilorin, your excellency we are coming to Ilorin again because of the facilities at the University of Ilorin soonest for the youth game.

“I love the fact that His Excellency AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq loves sport. I want to encourage your excellency to invest more on sports in the state ,” the minister pleaded with the governor.

After starting his professional career in the Nigerian leaguewith the UNTL in Kaduna and strutting his stuff with IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan, Yekini moved to Côte d’Ivoireto play for Africa Sports National, and from there he went to Portugaland Vitória de Setúbalwhere he experienced his most memorable years.

He eventually become the Primeira Liga’s top scorer in the 1993–94 seasonafter scoring 21 goals; the previous campaignhe had netted a career-best 34 in 32 games to help the Sadinospromote from the second division, and those performances earned him the title of African Footballer of the Yearonce, the first ever for the nation.