TheCable

Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of Lagos state, has declared the readiness of the state government to take over the national stadium in Surulere.

Ambode said this during a tour of the facility with Solomon Dalung, minister of youth and sports, and Amaju Pinnick, president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The governor said it was unfortunate how things had degenerated, but expressed preparedness to hit the ground running towards restoring the old glory of the stadium.

Ambode said repositioning the stadium would not only create employment opportunity, but would also facilitate family bonding.

“This visit is very historic. I recall that during our campaign, we promised that we are going to use tourism, entertainment and arts and sports to drive youth employment as well as drive excellence. So, this is just one chapter in that roadmap to growing the gross domestic product (GDP) of Lagos,” he said.

Ambode playing Tennis

“With the state of affairs here, we cannot fold our arms and just leave this monument to just waste away. The last match that was played here was about fifteen years ago but the truth is this, the inner key to youth empowerment and youth employment is actually in re-establishing this edifice to its real world class standard.”

He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for also agreeing to release Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, in addition to the stadiums in Enugu and Calabar to the respective state governments.

“What we ask for in Lagos is not as if we are being aggressive, we just think that we need to stand up for leadership here and take over the national stadium,” he said.

Earlier, Dalung described as a national disaster, lamenting the deplorable state.

He called for serious and comprehensive action to reposition the stadium and return it to its pride of place.

“We have gone round and we have seen the edifice in a sorry state. Whatever we can do to arrest the situation, we must do it,” he said.

“In my village, there is an adage, which says once there is fire disaster, there is no choice of liquid and any liquid that can contribute to extinguish the fire, must be mobilised including liquor. But today, we have a disaster and we must do everything possible to extinguish it.

“I want to thank the Governor for finding time to come. I have received what I can call football gossip from football federation that if the Surulere Stadium is handed over to Lagos and renovated in six months, the next match of Nigeria against Zambia would be played here.”