Monimichelle,the contractor handling the upgrading of the Enyimba International Stadium has assured fans of the club that the home ground of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) champions will be ready for the 2015/16 CAF Champions League.
NaijaSportsXtra in a chat with the sports facility boss, Ebi Egbe revealed that: “Work has commenced as scheduled as we intend to meet up with the completion date. Excavation work has started on the old turf, to now fill it with granite, and drainage system.”The 100% natural GEO technology pitch is what we are installing for Enyimba. It has the same characteristics as a properly manicured natural turf pitch with zero abrasion, 100 % foot stability, natural ball behaviour and it also increases energy resistitution of the players.
“The Infill Pro GEO was developed 2004 with the collaboration with the University of Pisa and C.o.R.T.E.S (Centro Ricerco Tappeti erbosib Sportivi) in Italy.
“It’s also a unique natural infill, composed by selected organic fibres that guarantee better technical and sporting performances, provide better conditions for athletes, the environment and safety with official certification already granted by the appropriate agencies.”
“Another unique feature of GEO technology, the pitch does not overheat during high temperature period. It has the characteristics to keep the temperature of the pitch lower than a rubber infill. It’s also odour free too.”
“The new Eyimba pitch is bigger than the Santiago Bernabeau is 110 X 72 metres and Emirate stadium is 105 X 68 metres play area. It is the biggest in the world measuring 110 X 74 metres same size as FC IFEANYI UBA GEO technology pitch in Nnewi.”
The Peoples Elephants, who are two times winner of the champions league, host Vipers FC of Uganda in a second leg preliminary round fixture in March in Aba.
•Insists on Port Harcourt for World Cup game •Cites failure to meet 10 days mandatory notice for change
World football governing body FIFA have turned down a request by Nigeria for Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Swaziland to be moved from Port Harcourt to Abuja.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), it was learnt, demanded the match be moved to Abuja for “logistical reasons”, but FIFA said the application was not received within the mandatory 10 days allowed for such a request.
“The request failed because it was done within the 10-day window allowed for such a request,” an official disclosed.
The southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt has hosted Nigeria’s home games this year thanks to the generosity of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, but his election has now been nullified by a tribunal which has ordered for a new election.
Minnows Swaziland held star-studded Nigeria to a goalless draw in the first leg of the 2018 World Cup qualifier in Lobambo and the return clash is slated for Tuesday afternoon in Port Harcourt.
The overall winners of this match-up will advance to the group stage of the qualifying series for Russia 2018.
The League Management Company (LMC) has said its operations have been wholly funded from privately generated income and zero government financial contribution.
Chairman of the LMC, Shehu Dikko disclosed this and other initiatives of the league body when he appeared as a guest on Africa Independent Television’s (AIT) morning show, Kaakaki and explained that the LMC would love to see the government involved in the area of infrastructure upgrade while gradually divesting from club funding.
“Since the LMC came on board, our funding has been sourced from commercial partnerships which is the practice globally and while we appreciate the companies that have bought rights from us, we are still not where we should be financially which explains our recent visit with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE),” Dikko said.
Continuing on government’s role in football, the he said: “In the 90s, the government of Margareth Thatcher in the UK provided over £200m for the upgrading of stadia facilities across England and that contributed critically to what we have today as the best league in the world, and today the UK government is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the EPL, generating billions of pounds in taxes, football tourism, jobs and other socio-economic activities that are hinged on the EPL in the UK.
“We also would seek government’s intervention in this direction and we are not asking for funds to be handed to anyone but for government to directly fund the upgrade of existing grounds and provision of required broadcast equipments and facilities in the stadiums.”
Whilst acknowledging that foreign football, especially the EPL has over-shadowed the domestic league, Dikko also pointed out that it is a global phenomenon which some European countries are also facing.
His words, “We are aware of the seeming preference for foreign football but it is not just football, Nigerians buy foreign cars instead of from PAN, we buy foreign rice instead of local rice etc, but we are working on winning back the minds of the people. It is also not peculiar to Nigeria, go to Malaysia, China, Emirates and even at some point in Germany and Spain, everyone is trying not to compete with the English league”.
He said the LMC has implemented and is also working on initiatives to uplift the league.
“The club that wins the league this season will earn as much as N80million in revenue share, merit award, bonuses and kind and even the relegated club will earn a minimum of N55million. There are incentives for away wins, draws, attracting crowds to the games and we also provide official match balls to the teams including kit bags for the players.
“More importantly, we are seeking pool sponsorship for all 20 clubs so their finances will improve and consequently, the welfare of players as well as drive the commercialisation of the clubs so as to make them attractive to investors,”he said.
Delta State is blessed with prodigious talents who have excelled in various sports. Its sporting prowess has been showcased both nationally and internationally where Nigerians of Delta origin have brought glory to the nation.
But sporting infrastructure, which is key to grooming athletes, have received scant government attention. Many stadia scattered across the state have become a natural habitat for wild animals and a den for hoodlums.
The Chief James Ibori administration in 1999 invested millions of tax payers’ money into building stadiums across the state, but sadly, all have fallen into decay with all of the stadiums performing functions other than they were intended.
Among stadiums built are at Jay-Jay Okocha Stadium, Ogwashi-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area, Ughelli Township Stadium, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Warri Township Stadium, Warri, Oghara Township Stadium, Ethiope West Local Government Area, Oleh Township Stadium, Isoko South Local Government Area, Sapele Township Stadium, Sapele Local Government Area and Stephen Keshi Stadium, Oshimili South Local Government Area.
Aside the fact that a large majority are dilapidated, Sapele and Stephen Keshi stadiums have not been completed despite the fact that the contract sums have almost been fully paid for.
Particularly worrying is the 18,000 capacity multi-purpose Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, the Delta State capital, which has remained uncompleted 14 years after.
The Stephen Keshi Stadium whose foundation stone was laid by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001 under Ibori’s administration has remained a project characterised by undue politicisation and mismanagement of funds.
Investigation by Niger Delta Report revealed that the edifice which dominates the Asaba skyline was originally designated by the Asaba community as an evil forest where the undesirables of the community are buried.
The stadium is a bleak hollow shell, discoloured by algae that have grown on the terraces and its walls cuts the picture of neglect and waste associated with the last administration.
Adorning the entire stadium are scaffolding left behind by the delinquent contractors. The main bowl of the stadium is a tangled mass of tall grasses providing a natural habitat to wild animals.
the uncompleted stadium
The blue long span roofing has been blown away in many sections into the compound of houses who have gratefully seized them to mend leaking roofs.
The outgone Uduaghan administration dilly-dallied with construction efforts with no meaningful work done until its tenure expired
Ex Commissioner of Information, Mr Chike Ogeah blamed the lack of development of the stadium to the fact that the facility lacked sufficient space to accommodate necessary facilities for expansion.
The Delta State House of Assembly once probed the project but nothing came out of it.
Assurances that both stadiums would be completed by April and July 2011 have turned out unfulfilled.
The Uduaghan administration terminated the contract of the stadium in February 2013 with a promise to complete the stadium in six months’ time, but that was not to be.
Prominent Asaba indigenes have expressed their frustration at the manner successive administration have toyed with the construction of the stadium.
Former, Secretary to the defunct Bendel State Government, Chief Patrick Onyeobi lamented the state of the stadium, describing it as ‘pathetic and insulting to the people of Asaba’.
He accused the Uduaghan administration of using the stadium as a conduit to loot the state’s treasury.
Aside christening the stadium, the Uduaghan administration sought divine intervention in completing the stadium, hinging the slow pace of work on the spiritual manipulation by evil spirits.
His words: “l have told God that l am not going to leave any abandoned project in this state. We have been having challenges with the contractors in charge of this stadium. It was about becoming an abandoned project but this will not happen because it will be completed soon.”
He invited the founder of Our Daily Manna, Dr Chris Kwakpovwe, to pray against the spiritual inhibition stalling the progress of the project.
Uduaghan enjoined Dr Kwakpovwe to invoke the spirit of God on the stadium site to neutralise any negative spiritual inhibition.
Kwakpovwe grabbed a clump of earth from the Stephen Keshi’s Stadium and prayed against any negative force stalling the completion of the stadium.
Despite all the prayers, the Stephen Keshi Stadium has remained uncompleted. The battered edifice apparently jeering at the puny effort by government to remedy the situation.
But the Dr Ifeanyi Okowa administration has strenuously denied it will abandon any project that has the capacity to add value to the lives of Deltans.
Okowa’s Chief Press Secretary, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, who spoke with Niger Delta Report, assured that the stadium would be built.
His words: “I can assure you that the Okowa administration will not abandon any project that is aimed at adding value to the lives of Deltans. So, if anybody is coming with the impression that the stadium will be abandoned, that is not going to be true. The stadium is going to be given the same priority as other project that have the capability of positively affecting the people of the State. So you can take it to the bank that I am saying that Okowa will not abandon the stadium.”
Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) club, Sharks, will return to the Sharks FC Stadium ahead of their match day 16 contest against Nasarawa United on Sunday.
The Blue Angels have been playing their league games at the Port-Harcourt Liberation Stadium in past weeks but will now return to their original home ground for Sunday’s game against the Lafia-based club.
Captain of Sharks, Odinga Odinga, says the news represents ”a welcome development” for the club as they intensify their quest to move up the bottom of the standings.
“Yes, we will play our next home game against Nasarawa United on Sunday at the Sharks Stadium. We just got the news from the League Management Company (LMC) on Friday and I can tell you that this is a welcome development,” the Sharks skipper told supersport.com.
Sharks are currently bottom of the 20-team NPFL with 11 points from 15 games and Odinga identifies financial difficulties faced earlier in the campaign as one of the main reasons for their less than impressive start to the season.
“We suffered too much at the beginning of the season due to lack of funds but things are different now. The players have all been paid and the boys are ready to give their all.
“The new governor (of Rivers State, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike) has done very well to offset debts owed us within three weeks of his administration and it’s a pointer that things will be different from now on.
“The fact that we have now returned to the Sharks Stadium will also help our cause to avoid relegation. Sharks belong to the top division and we cannot contemplate relegation,” he said. Sharks have won only one game in 15 attempts this season.
The Rivers State government has explained why President Goodluck Jonathan cannot use the Adokiye Amiesimaka Sports Complex on January 28.
The government, through the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, yesterday in Port Harcourt, also urged Jonathan and the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, to rein in their “mad dogs”.
The state government said: “At a different time and under different circumstances, the Rivers State government would have ignored the PDP’s members’ ranting (to force their way into the Rivers State government-owned Adokiye Amiesimaka Sports Complex to hold presidential rally), but with the party’s (PDP’s) penchant for violence and its bombings of people and property all over the state, it is pertinent that the Rivers State government raises this alert and sounds a note of warning to the PDP that the Rivers State government will not trifle with its responsibility to guarantee the safety of life and property, irrespective of who is affected.
“The matter of the Adokiye Amiesimaka Sports Complex is a simple one. The complex is still under construction. As a work site, it is an unsafe environment for use at this time. The PDP makes reference to the fact that the APC had held its rally at the same venue. What they failed to mention is that the contractor was moved out of site during the time the APC’s rally held and remobilised to site right after that rally.
“With less than five months to the end of its tenure, the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration is working on ensuring the completion of all its projects before the handover date of May 29. With that being the case, the River State government cannot move its contractors out of site at this time.
“Unlike the PDP that has consistently refused the APC the use of stadia and other facilities in Abuja and other states where it is in control, the Rivers State government has magnanimously offered the PDP the use of the Liberation Stadium Elekahia, which is also a state facility.”
The Rivers government also stated that the resolve of the PDP leaders to unlawfully break into the Adokiye Amiesimaka sports complex was to fulfill the threat issued by some members of the party (PDP) that they would burn down the complex.
I have had cause to intervene in the recent past on matters affecting my dear state of Akwa Ibom. These interventions have had as the main thrust, the squandering of our common wealth and the evident lack of appreciation of the true essence of governance. Incrementally, actions subsequent to my interventions have been clearly illustrative of the fact that I did not even fully appreciate the extent of the problem. I suspect I have not gotten there yet, but now realize that – ‘they clearly do not get it!’ Governor Akpabio and his teeming fans have coined the term ‘Akpabioism’ to represent his governance philosophy. They have also coined the term ‘uncommon transformation’ to describe the ‘uncommon’ infrastructural development that has resulted from Akpabioism. So perhaps Akpabioism stands for a governance style which produces uncommon infrastructural transformation.
I had in an earlier piece described Akpabioism as a metaphor for delirious leadership. I think it is worse than that! Akpabioism in my new perspective is rather a metaphor for mismanagement with impunity. Why did it take the building of a stadium in Uyo to bring me to this realization? After all the construction of a stadium in a soccer loving city cannot be misgovernance, without more. So let me now explain the ‘more’.
In rationalizing the sense or otherwise in building the stadium, one ought to arm himself with the facts relevant to coming to a fair determination of the cost/benefit analysis. Facts like the cost of the stadium, the financial health of the state, opportunity costs, sustainability of the stadium and so on. Unfortunately, the cost of the stadium is not only a state secret it would appear to be the governor’s private secret. All my search and personal contacts have only provided speculative figures. Clearly the peoples money should not be spent by its government in a secret manner and if spent without the transparent process of appropriation, competitive tendering and executive council approval enshrined in our constitution and other laws, it translates to an act of criminal illegality. The mere fact that people of Akwa Ibom have not been told the cost of their new modern stadium is evidence of bad governance, the actual fact that they will not be told even if they cared to know is evidence of mindless impunity and misgovernance at its worst.
So we are left with no option but to dig in the fertile ground of propaganda, doctored leaks, regime reputation guesstimates. In that combustible mix, the figures have ranged from N40 to N140 billion. The figure of $96million provided in the stadium website should and appears to have been discarded by all. If the Uyo Stadium is modelled after the Allianz Arena in Munich Germany, that was constructed locally by another German company for about $425million, it is improbable that Julius Berger will construct the same stadium albeit half the capacity for $96million! My own guess will be a figure of about $700million or N120 billion! Just to put this figure in perspective, Fred Swanniker the Ghanaian founder of African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg is spearheading an initiative that will build five modern, world class 10,000-student capacity universities in Africa at a cost of $100million each.
Let us leave the cost of the stadium for now and turn to the elaborate launch, which unofficial sources have put the cost at N8 billion. I listened to Governor Akpabio on Akwa Ibom television surrounded by ‘Men of God’ regale the congregation about the uncommon feat of hosting three African presidents. He elaborated on the challenge of advance teams and catering to travelling parties of hundreds per president! In a case of supreme irony, what he regards as uncommon accomplishments, will actually from a good governance perspective, amount to foolishness. How he does not get this is tragic for us Akwa Ibomites! How are the people of Akwa Ibom enriched by squandering N8billion on an opening ceremony of a stadium? Money that can build 2000 quality social housing units at N4million each and given away free to indigenes since we are so rich!
As in the case with personal finances, prudence and common sense must always be applied and there must always be a distinction between needs and wants. You do not move to wants without first satisfying your needs. And what will make sense, will be to only embark on wasteful spending when adequate provisions have been made for needs. It is one thing to boast about Akwa Ibom having the most modern stadium in the world, or the governor’s conference room being the most modern in Africa or being the richest and most powerful governor in the world. It is another thing to have the best paid and most motivated teachers in Nigeria, to have the best schools in Nigeria, to have the best functional hospitals in Nigeria, to have the best football clubs in Africa and the happiest pensioners to name a few. On average, Akwa Ibom’s share of federally-allocated revenue is five times that of the average state and we are acknowledged as the richest state in Nigeria. The wealth should translate to the achievement of the second set of accomplishments. Only upon the attainment of the second set of accomplishments should we waste any resources on the first set of boastful and meaningless accomplishments. Working towards attaining the meaningful accomplishments is the duty and function of good governance whilst the other is the preserve of the disconnected. If not for disconnection how can our governor expect that Akwa Ibom will be crawling with sports stars simply because we have the best stadium in Nigeria! Those who are connected build sporting academies and take sports to the grassroots by building sustainable community facilities and can then expect the production of sporting stars. Countries like UAE, with ‘too much’ money, build ‘modern’ stadia for sports stars around the world to come and entertain their people and also contribute to tourism and the economy. Their people are happy to sit around and watch these stars because unlike my people they do not have to do so on an empty stomach, do not have to trek back home and home you can be sure will not be a thatched mud house! Neither will the home be serviced by just one lantern to be shared by all including the students who need to study. Education is free for the citizens and good teachers have been attracted from all over the world including Nigeria to teach in these schools. The schools are well equipped and not made up of dilapidated unplastered buildings with leaking roofs, as is the case with Ndiya Comprehensive Secondary School, my community school!
If my dear governor thinks that governance is about using the states resources to fete foreign and local dignitaries and build a wonderful stadium, then he must be the most grandiose governor in the world and no wonder he resides in the best state government house in the democratic world! He just doesn’t get it!
Chinese tech giant, Huawei Technologies has deployed its high-density WiFi solution the Borussia Dortmund Football Club after completing comprehensive comparisons and tests.
The objective was to establish a wireless network in the club’s home stadium, Signal Iduna Park. With an average attendance of more than 80,500 people, the stadium is the busiest football club in the world. The club selected Huawei’s solution which provides high-density user access and multi-service operation, enhancing the experience for fans at the stadium.
According to the tech firm, the project encountered some challenges in relation to planning, high-density user access and differentiated services to fit the business model. The first challenge related to planning. Wireless data that is transmitted through electromagnetic waves can penetrate obstacles, be refracted or interfere with one another. In order to map electromagnetic waves like network cables, Huawei engineers developed an automatic planning tool. The tool was successfully implemented to design a high-performance wireless network covering the stadium. The result was a flawless network design forming the basis for high network quality and successful network operations.
“The second challenge was in relation to high-density user access. When large audiences share moments via mobile devices, a single access point must provide high-speed access for several hundred users. Low-performance networks will break-down in these circumstances. The Huawei high-density stadium WiFi solution uses various control and scheduling technologies to address user access, service transmission, and roaming problems. By doing so, the network performance was improved by 30 per cent, enabling each access point (AP) to provide access for more than 100 users. In addition, the network was created to be flexible, agile and capable of supporting future service growth,” the firm explained.
The third challenge was in providing differentiated services to adapt to the new business model. Economic interests needed to be balanced with user experience, with basic network access Internet services provided for free. The Huawei high-density stadium Wi-Fi solution allowed the business model to be profitable by deeply integrating IT services with network services. This allowed the customer to maximise return on investment from new services on the wireless network.
The Huawei high-density stadium Wi-Fi solution helps create smart stadiums with reliable, fast, innovative wireless networks.
The rapidly developing mobile Internet connects users anywhere, anytime. According to Deloitte’s research on customer behaviors in 2013, Wi-Fi is now the most popular choice for wireless network access. The research report shows that 69 per cent of smartphone users use Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet at home, office, or school, more than 2G and 3G systems. In addition to private network usage, 43 per cent of smartphone users connect to the Internet using public Wi-Fi access.
This surge in mobile internet access has also affected retail trends, with increasing numbers of shoppers now using their mobile devices to shop online.
Users’ preferences for absorbing messages are also evolving, with around 55 per cent of users preferring mobile commercials to televisual or traditional Internet commercials. The mobile trend is set to grow according to InMobi, a mobile advertising company that predicts that mobile shopping will grow by more than 35 per cent in 2014.
It is now official. The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying cracker between the Super Eagles and the Bafana Bafana of South Africa will take place at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium, Uyo.
Vice President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr. Fred Crentsil, who was mandated by the Confederation of African Football to inspect the facility, has given the infrastructure very high marks.
“You guys have a wonderful facility here. It is one of the best I have seen anywhere around Africa and elsewhere. It is of the same standard and mould as Soccercity (the main stadium in Johannesburg that hosted the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals) with a lower capacity.
“I am particularly amazed that there are provisions for the physically –challenged persons. Everything is taken care of here. I am hugely impressed,” Crentsil said in Uyo on Thursday.
The CAF official inspected the stadium as well as hotel facilities in the Akwa Ibom State capital, in company with the NFF’s Assistant Director of Competitions, Mr. Bola Oyeyode.
NFF President, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick had, after inspecting the magnificent facility three weeks ago, announced that the venue would host the Super Eagles, Bafana Bafana clash.
The Kogi State government has released the sum of one hundred million Naira (N100m) to its ministry of youth and sport to settle the contractors handling its Olympic-size stadium.
The state’s commissioner for youth and sports, Attah Sule, stated this while receiving Kogi commissioner for information, Zainab Suleiman-Okino, who paid him a working visit in his office.
Describing Kogi governor Captain Idris Wada as a generous and focused man, Sule stressed that the governor had assisted the ministry in various ways and thanked Captain Wada for giving him the opportunity to serve the state.
Earlier, Hajia Suleiman-Okino, who said her visit was in line with the directive of the governor, said it was aimed at ascertaining the level of performance and achievements of each ministry and parastatal in the state with a view to showcasing same to the public.
She commended commissioner Sule for his efforts and achievements within his short period in office, and called on staff of the ministry to be more dedicated to their jobs.
