Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare said the reclassification of sports from recreation to business as contained in the Sports Industry Policy will put an end to neglect of sporting infrastructures
Dare said as much at the weekend after inspection of renovation works at the National stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
“With the incentives that have been approved by the Federal Executive Council kicking in Shortly, we will be able to leverage on private sector financing of stadium and other infrastructure, Dare said.
He noted that standard years for a stadium before major renovations is 30 years whereas the 51-year-old Surulere National Stadium has been left unmaintained for the last 18 years with most of the critical infrastructure either stolen or are in a state of disrepair.
“A lot of people supported me for starting the journey to renovating the National stadium in Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan,” he said. “Yes, it was a bold move in the face of dwindling government revenue and we had to think of an alternative way of starting it.
“I can understand why the place has been abandoned for years. The cost of renovating stadiums all over the world is enormous. The Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid is estimated to cost $700m US dollars while a 15,000 capacity Maldives stadium will cost $25m. The estimate we got for National stadium in Lagos is $41m which is about 21 billion naira.
“We wanted 10 sponsors to take up different sections of the stadium but only chief Kessington Adebutu hearkened to our call.”
Meanwhile, Dare said his biggest achievement in sports is not in the rehabilitation of the stadia, adding the reclassification of sports as business and the enactment of the Sports Industry Policy, will be a major achievement under his tenure.
While the adopt initiative which he started since he was appointed sports minister in 2019 has yielded immeasurable dividends, he revealed he has not just stopped at the reclassification and the enactment of the Sports Industry Policy.
“We have also looked at other means of getting the infrastructures fixed and have approached the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) to fix some 10 abandoned facilities and we have almost concluded on this and it will be presented to council soon,” he said. “I want to stay a special thank you to Alhaji Aliko Dangote who came in for us and the youths of Nigeria by fixing the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abuja.
”’I also want to thank chief Adebutu for his efforts which have seen 80% of the main bowl pitch and tartan track done. The digital scoreboard is fully functional now.
“Baba Ijebu has released about 420 million naira so far as CSR and it is commendable.
“The journey has started and the National stadium in Lagos will be restored to its original design if we get the funds needed,” he added.