MKO Abiola Stadium a National Monument, Says Enoh

Olawale Ajimotokan  in Abuja

Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, has described Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja as definitive national monument that meets international best practices.

He made the declaration yesterday after an inspection tour of the facility.

Enoh said the stadium has the capacity to become one of the best multi-purpose stadium complex in Africa while assuring stakeholders that government will ensure the resuscitation and turn-around of the facilities at the stadium with a view to making it better, in line with global standards.

“Amidst the so much that I have seen here, the positives and the negatives, this stadium is a very definitive national monument. There is about nothing that you will find elsewhere, that you cannot find here.

“However from 2003 till date, the facility has gone through a lot. The Ministry under my leadership will do all that it can, to get every part of the stadium functional, including the athletes hostel, because athletes must have the best, to be the best,” Enoh said.

The minister said he embarked on the tour to have first-hand knowledge of the state of the edifice and adopt a systematic approach towards ensuring the development of sports in the country 

“Facilities and infrastructures are key components of sports, and they are variables that drive both elite performance and grassroots development. It is therefore very important that we get it right, we must maintain the current infrastructure that we have and look towards making them better, to match what we have across the world,” he said.

He likens sports to a peculiar sector that excites so much passion in all Nigerians, noting this passion led to the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make the sector stand alone and also appoint him to pilot the affairs of the sector.

He embarked on the tour alongside the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar and the Director of Facilities and Stadium Management in the Ministry, Alanamu Abolore.

He assured all that he will soon embark on the same tours of sporting facilities across the country to assess their state in order to take definitive action on their development .