Onikan Stadium yet to bear new name

By Olalekan Okusan

Twenty three days after Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu renamed the iconic Onikan Stadium after the late military governor of the State, Brigadier -General Mobolaji Johnson; the Arena still bears the old nomenclature.

Currently undergoing renovation, the water-front edifice is located at King George V Road in Onikan suburb in Lagos Island, Governor Sanwo-Olu had on December 3 while eulogising the late military ruler, Sanwo-Olu announced Onikan Stadium will now be known as the Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson Stadium.

“Today, we kicked off the funeral rites of Brigadier Gen Mobolaji Johnson, an astute politician and a respected elder statesman,” Governor Sanwo-Olu announced with glee. “He was first appointed the Administrator of the Federal Territory of Lagos on January 15, 1966 and later on as Military Governor on May 27, 1967.

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“A New Dawn. A New Look. A New Name. The newly renovated Onikan Stadium not only wears a new look, it has also taken on a new identity. MOBOLAJI OLUFUNSO JOHNSON STADIUM,” the Governor added.
But when our correspondent checked at the site on Christmas Day, the reputed oldest stadium in the country still bears its old ‘Onikan Arena’

Speaking with NationSport on the development Lagos Sport Commission’s Public Relation Officer (PRO), Titi Oshodi, said there is no ambiguity over the status of the arena following Governor Sanwo-Olu executive order to change the name from Onikan Stadium to Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson Stadium, adding the new name would be effected once the renovation work being done by the state government is completed.
“Nobody can contest the fact that the stadium is now Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson Stadium because Governor Sanwo-Olu did that with an executive order and that is final” Oshodi told NationSport.
“As you know, the contractors are still working at the stadium and I’m sure the signage with the new name would be conspicuously displayed before the reopening of the stadium. In fact, that is one of the new things that would be done once the job is completed.”

It would be recalled that the stadium was originally built in 1930 and then known as The Association Ground; six years later, it was named after King George V and it was also known as Lagos City Stadium between 1963 and 1973.