Maracana Stadium: From Dumpsite to National Showpiece

Aside from the yearly Mock Nations Cup which is an assembly of mostly ex-internationals, the Maracana Stadium in Ajegunle, Lagos State, was besieged with shanties, where all sort of criminal activities took place. Today, the place has 19 pitches, 192 bed space hostels, with basketball and lawn tennis courts, table tennis hall, a canteen and restaurant under construction, courtesy, Chairman, Nathaniel Idowu Foundation, Yemi Idowu, who has turned the once dungeon to a national edifice. Little wonder, the first word that came out of the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, when he visited the place last Saturday was ‘Wow’, reports Kunle Adewale

Last week Saturday was a special day to the people of Ajegunle area of Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA in Lagos State as the the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, paid a visit to the new-look Maracana Stadium in Ajegunle, in company of the Oniru of Iru, HRH Abdulwasiu Omogbbolahan Lawal; Chairman, Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA Fatai Ayoola; Olu of Iwa and Apapa kingdom, Oba Mohammadu Oluwa; Lagos State Commissioner of Youth and Social Development, Mobolaji Ogunlende and the man behind the national edifice, the chairman of the Nathaniel Idowu Foundation, Chief Yemi Idowu.

Speaking after an inspection tour of the facility on last Saturday, the minister said, “I can’t help but say wow. The Maracana Sporting Complex for me is not only a showpiece but a showcase of how our grassroots sports should go as a nation. It was HRH Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, that first mentioned this complex to me before the Director General, Budget of the federation, Ben Akabueze, also mentioned it and coming here today I more than understand they kept talking to me about the complex.”

“When I told some friends that I was coming to Ajegunle, they wondered what I was coming to do here. To find something positive that you can showcase to the rest of the country located in Ajegunle speaks volumes of how much having sufficient will, commitment and passion can achieve. “I was told that this place use to be a dumpsite. So, there is a lot about here, not just the fact that it’s in Ajegunle, it’s also located where it used to be a dumpsite. So, from a dumpsite you can have an edifice like this.

“I have seen many young kids here, meaning that this complex provides an opportunity for young kids to come and engage themselves in positive things and be happy playing football and to relate with themselves. No doubt this is the future of our sports development policy. I thank Yemi Idowu, the chairman of Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government, Fatai Ayoola, who has been very supportive and when we talk about promoting Public Private Partnership. I have also been told how much the Lagos State Government has provided an enabling environment to make this happen.

“When you see government providing the enablement and willing people who have passion and ready to develop sports, this becomes the product of that kind of partnership,” Enoh noted.

The minister also expresses his plan to take sports to the grassroots.

“As a sports development minister who is quite interested in how much we can take sporting facilities to the grassroots, how much we can get our young men and women usefully engaged to showcase and grow their talents to elite point, this for me becomes a showcase for the rest of the country and when I speak to corporate organisations, industrialists and captains of industry, the Maracana Sporting Complex would be my reference point.

“I need everyone to come and see the edifice so that we can expand it and develop it beyond football. Am really glad to have come here to see things for myself,” he said.

“I now understand why people kept talking about this place. It’s also quite astonishing that you can find something positive, something that you can showcase to the rest of the country located here at Ajegunle speaks quite volumes,” he reiterated.

Enoh indeed promised to revisit the government previous policy of having sporting facilities in every local government of the federation.

“It was a policy that was not followed up. Implementation was always a problem, not only in sports but in every facet. As Sports Development Minister, the approach I’ve tried to adopt is to go back to those policies and documents and see how we can get them implemented. What I can assure Nigerians is that there is the will, commitment and purposefulness on my part to see how I can engage the talents in the country. While not making any immediate promises as to how many sporting facilities we can have, we are going to take the first step as to how many we can provide,” he assured.

In his remarks, HRH Abdulwasiu Lawal, who is the initiator of the idea of siting the edifice in Ajegunle, lauded the efforts of the Nathaniel Idowu Foundation for keying into the idea, while also commending the minister for visiting the edifice.

For chief Idowu, the construction of the facility was made possible following the support of the host community.

“We are very grateful to have the Sports Minister here and all the dignitaries. Ajegunle is a lovely place and I’m so proud we have this facility here. I love Ajegunle and the reason we chose here is because Ajegunle has got the heartbeat and the children are here. They are ready and they have received us. The Royal father, the local government. Everyone has been part of this and that is why it had to be Ajegunle.

“We are on a long journey and this is the beginning. We’ve got infrastructures for football in place, there’s the hostels. Other facilities like the swimming pool, table tennis, lawn tennis and basketball will come on board.  We will have a recreation hall, a canteen, kitchen and all of these are still coming. So, the more we have such facilities inside here, the less social vices you have outside,” Idowu said.