TheCable

The federal government has officially transferred the custody and management of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna to the state government.

The development is in line with the implementation of the National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP) which incorporates sub-national governments as well as private sector involvement in sports development in Nigeria.

Sunday Dare, minister of youth and sports development, and Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna governor, signed the memorandum of understanding (Mou) on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Dare reiterated the commitment of President Muhammad Buhari’s administration to sports development in Nigeria.

The signing of the MoU signifies the official transfer of the stadium which is long overdue.

This also follows the earlier transfers of Tafawa Balewa Stadium to Bauchi state and Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium to Enugu state.

The minister expressed confidence in the Kaduna government to effectively develop and manage the sports infrastructure for the benefit of 19 states in the zone.

He called on other state governors to emulate Kaduna for spending over N300 million to revive the formerly abandoned stadium.

On his part, El-Rufai commended the federal government for giving Kaduna state the opportunity to own and control the stadium bequeathed to the northern states by the late premier Ahmadu Bello.

“We intend to modernise this stadium into to a world standard edifice suitable for everyone to watch football and other sports events. We would also revive the three Olympic standard swimming pools and collaborate with the private sector in ensuring that all other uncompleted facilities within the stadium are fully completed and operational,” he said.

A novelty football match was also played at the stadium to commemorate the event.