Dare Visits Sports-city, Pledges Early Completion of Rehabilitation Works

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, has assured sports stakeholders that the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos will soon be completed to play host to sporting activities.

Speaking on Monday when he paid a working visit to the Sports-city the Minister said he was excited that since the scoreboard was functioning, the pitch regrassed, other facilities like the tartan tracks the VIP Lounge, spectators’ stands among others will soon be completed.

According to him “this facility was abandoned for many years. The stadium, unlike the Abuja Stadium had zero maintenance fund for almost 17 years, but we got Chief Adebutu Kessington to get it back to life.

“The time needed to ge it back to life is much longer than what the eyes can see. The underbelly of the pitch had to be excavated, new sprinklers installed because the old ones were either stolen or rotten.

“The 10-lane tartan tracks is to be started from the scratch because we listened to expert advice. The scoreboard took longer time to dismantle because it had become obsolete and had to be replaced with a new one.

“The decay at the complex has been on for too long. The person funding the work insisted on the right quality and the International standard before work

started,” revealed the minister.

He further said: “It took me a while to come here, but my coming is a validation of the fact that I’m impressed with the level of work that has been done. I hope that very soon we can host events here once we get the place functional. We are going to clear the debris, the grass is being properly maintained and the tracks will soon be laid then we are good to go,” he further hinted.