National Stadium: From neglect to concession

The Federal Government recently announced plans to concession the National Stadium in Lagos. The Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission Bolaji Abdullahi revealed the government’s thinking in this regard.

Although the modalities for the concession are yet to be made public, Abdullahi is expected to constitute a Project Steering Committee and a Project Delivery Committee, which will liaise with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to draw up modalities for the concession.

The Stadium, which in its long history hosted several international competitions and memorable matches, has suffered long years of abandonment. The last time a major competition took place there was in 2000 during the African Nations Cup which was co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana.

Since then the Surulere Stadium has assumed the unenviable position of being a rendezvous for lovers who throng the various spots like Ojez, Old Skuul, NSC (Staff) Cooperative etc. seeking fun. These beer parlours have become the main attraction of the place which in its heyday was known as ‘Sports City’ for being the haven of sporting activities in the country.

It is also the favourite ground for the various religious groups with Christians and Muslims frequently holding their worship there. Only traditional African worshippers have not started taking their own instruments of trade to the stadium as yet.

The stadium also serves as a parking lot for the Teslim Balogun Stadium across the street which is now the place of choice for international matches billed for Lagos as a result of its playing surface which is artificial and less difficult to maintain.

While the concession option may not be a bad idea given government’s inability to maintain or manage the stadium, stakeholders wonder why the edifice, which is something of a national monument was allowed to go to seed before an attempt is made to resuscitate it. Why has the government failed to maintain the edifice over the years? The same question can be posed about other sectors like health, education, power, arts and culture- the National Theatre is almost desolate.

This trend reveals the culture that allows the country’s vital infrastructure to deteriorate; a total absence of a maintenance culture. The Abuja National Stadium which was built for $360 million has begun to experience the same fate the one in Lagos has suffered. The Stadium in the nation’s capital which hosted the All Africa Games in 2003 is now all but abandoned.

First the velodrome collapsed some years ago and the playing surface became bad so much so that the Super Eagles stopped playing their international matches there. A contract awarded to revamp the playing turf of the Abuja Stadium for N96m was so shoddily done that members of the House of Reps who inspected it after it was completed were furious as the grass easily came off.

As the concession plans go ahead we do hope that it won’t be abandoned mid stream because this is not the first time the idea was muted. Again, the bidding must be made open and transparent. It won’t do for the NSC which has been giving the stadium out albeit piecemeal to sundry businesses, to compromise the bidding process. Some of the businesses currently operating in the stadium are known to be interested parties.

Also, those who finally get the concession right have to make known what their plans are for the stadium. It won’t do for them to balkanise the place and turn it to a housing estate for instance. The stadium is first and foremost a sporting arena and effort must be made to ensure that sporting activities will still take place in the National Stadium going forward.