However, even in the carnival-like celebrations, my mind was transported back in time to another stadium commissioning which attracted equal fanfare: the commissioning of the Abuja National Stadium on April 8, 2003.
I was privileged to be among the thousands who thronged the arena that day and watch, open-mouthed at the arrays of facilities available inside the expansive landscape. From what I discovered on the day, the Abuja National Stadium was designed to be a truly sports city with all manners of conveniences including a bank, post-office and police post among the amenities provided.
We sat patiently as music stars like the Plantashun Boiz, Sir Shina Peters and the late South African songstress Brenda Fassie among others entertained in the blazing sun and finally, when the traditional opening match kicked off between 3SC and Sunshine Stars, I was still too entranced to leave. I just marveled that such an edifice could be located anywhere with the Nigerian land space.
Needless to say that I didn’t get home until way past midnight but I was happy to have been part of such an historic occasion. It was history before our very eyes and well worth any inconvenience.
I had since watched many other international games at the stadium over the years yet I wasn’t able to shake off the feeling that the complex was under-utilised. Apart from the mainbowl which hosted the occasional football game, the other pitches and courts including the Velodrome has been rarely used as such.
Then I was at the stadium less than two years ago, nine years after it was commissioned, and the sight that met my eyes was tears-inducing. It was so bad that the Super Eagles had to go on ‘exile’ to Calabar to play their games and, if what we hear is true, they may pitch their tent in Uyo, the new shrine of football in Nigeria.
What is wrong with the Abuja Stadium that it had to be abandoned? We couldn’t maintain it, simple. A stadium that’s less than a decade old is left to rot and we scamper around the country searching for a home ground for our national team. It is a shame of national proportion and something everyone involved should be ashamed off.
If you wonder why our home invincibility has been broken, it is because we do not have a ‘home’ again. In the years when the national Stadium, Lagos used to be the home of the national team, we all remember how visiting teams got slaughtered in Surulere. The facility was excellent and the support massive. No matter how good you think you are, the Lagos fans will intimidate you into submission. I’m not suggesting that only Lagos fans support our national teams, rather I’m saying we should put an end to the days of ‘wandering’ and get a ‘permanent’ home for the Super Eagles.
Back to the present, I fear that the Uyo stadium may go the way of the Abuja stadium and all the other stadia before that one which have all fallen into states of disrepair simply because nobody cares. We can always get a new venue to play seems to be the national mindset.
The governor and people of Akwa Ibom have done their part by offering Nigeria this magnificent edifice. They have also gone further to make the right noises by claiming that there’s an agreement with the builders of the stadium to handle its maintenance for the next 10 or 20 years.
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