As the opening ceremony
of the 18th National Sports Festival begins on Tuesday (today) in Lagos,
it is shocking to note that the main bowl of the National Stadium,
Surulere, venue of field events, has not been given a facelift by the
organisers and officials of the festival tagged Eko 2012.
The Local Organising Committee of the
festival has been involved in last-ditch efforts to put facilities in
most venues in place but the National Stadium – which has been
abandoned for several years – seem not to catch the eye of the
organisers.
While workers were seen working
vigorously to ensure that every facility was in top shape at the Teslim
Balogun Stadium, venue of the opening and closing ceremonies of the
event, on Sunday night, the reverse was the case inside the opposite
National Stadium.
Close observers felt the long-abandoned
stadium, which hosted the first two editions of the festival, would
breathe a new lease of life because of the festival but a close look at
the facilities there indicate that nothing has been done.
Rather, the stadium is bubbling with
commercial life with potential sellers during the festival flocking the
arena and setting up their stands here and there. Kazza, a fast food
outfit, and several others have been renovated awaiting potential
customers.
But on entering the main bowl, the
tartan tracks inside the facility are in tattered shape while most of
the seats have turned heaps of dirt after a long neglect. Apart from
managing to get the grass of the football pitch cut, nothing seems to
have been done by the organisers of the festival.
Also, unlike other facilities, the
weather-beaten edifice was not painted or given a facelift. Apart from
the AstroTurf pitch, other venues like the indoor sports hall and the
table tennis hall were equally not looking ready for the festival.
Though the table tennis hall had new
roofing, which was reportedly put in place by Lagos State, the facility
has been noted for its poor lighting over the years.
During an earlier inspection of the
facility, one of the inspectors had complained of the lighting but a top
official of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation told him to write ‘Work
in progress’ in his report.
But no work seemed to have been done on the facility apart from the roofing as the festival begins today.
However, it was learnt that the poor
state of the stadium for the games may not be unconnected with division
over who handles the renovation of the edifice.
“The National Stadium is under the care
of the National Sports Commission, meaning they should have taken care
of the renovation of the facility for the festival. If the Lagos State
Government was given the directive to refurbish the facilities, I
believe they would have done it,” an official of the games, who pleaded
anonymity, said.
In stark contrast, the Main Organising
Committee on Monday confirmed that all facilities were in the right
frame to host a befitting sports showpiece.
The MOC secretary-general, Abba Yola,
said, “From the MOC, I want to say we are satisfied that Lagos is ready
to host the 18th National Sports Festival with all the equipment in
place. This is the first time in recent years that a state will match
its words with action by ensuring that all what they promised were ready
even before the kick off of the game.”
Culled From Punch
Culled From Punch
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