The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Stephen Keshi Stadium

  • Traders allege taskforce of extortion

    Some traders outside the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, venue of the ongoing 2018 Africa Senior Athletics Championships, on Friday alleged that the Delta Environmental Sanitation Taskforce was extorting them because of the competition.

    Some of the traders who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba said that the taskforce prevented them from displaying their goods because they refused to part with N2,000 each.

    A drinks and snacks snacks seller (name withheld), said that the demand from the taskforce had frustrated her effort to make good sales.

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    “What is going on here is very bad because the taskforce are really disturbing our business since this championships started.

    “In a day, I don’t make a profit of N1,000 and someone wants me to pay N2,000 before I can display my goods; please I am appealing to the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the event to intervene,” she said.

    Also, a widow who sells noodles outside the stadium, said she had incurred debt due to the shameful act of the taskforce.

    She told NAN that the situation was unbearable for traders, adding that they had been badly treated by the taskforce.

    “Packing my goods from one place to another because of the extortion has made me to incur debt.

    “I am a widow, this is a good avenue for me to make money and prepare for my children to resume schooling but the case is the opposite,” she lamented.

    In the same vein, another noodles vendor, said that he parted with N1,000 out of the sales he made on Tuesday before he was allowed to attend to his customers.

    “I am fed up with the whole situation, I paid N1,000 out of the N2,000 they demanded from me and today they have come to request for another N2,000 which I will not pay.

    “We are from Delta State and should not be treated as if we are aliens in our land,” he said.

    A fairly used clothes vendor told NAN that the act of the taskforce was very disgraceful and urged the government to curb their excesses.

    “This is daylight robbery and harassment by the taskforce, how do they expect us to be paying N2,000 daily because we want to support our family.

    “This programme is just for a duration of five days, after that we will not be here, so I see no reason why we should be disturbed, ” she said.

    NAN reports that no fewer than 1,000 athletes from 52 countries are competing in the championships that will end on Sunday.

  • CAA 2018: Water tank crushes car in Asaba stadium

    There was pandemonium on Thursday at the ongoing 21st African Senior Athletics Championships, tagged “Asaba 2018” following the collapse of a 30,000 metric ton water tank at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba.

    Although no life was lost, the incident caused panic amongst athletes, officials and spectators who participated in day two of the events at the championships.

    The collapsed water tank which left several vehicles and a fence damaged, created panic among the athletes and spectators as the game was going on.

    A staff of the Delta State Sports Commission who spoke on condition of anonymity said “All construction works carried out in the stadium were done in a hurry resulting to substandard work. The collapsed water head tank was poorly done hence the collapse. You can even see that the stadium was not completed before the game started.The stanchions of the floodlighting system has not been installed”

    But in a swift reaction, the State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has ordered an investigation into the remote and immediate cause of the collapsed Water Tank behind the main bowl of the Stephen Keshi Stadium during the ongoing African Senior Athletics Championships holding in Asaba

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Aniagwu, Okowa described the incident as regrettable but thanked God that no life was lost.

    The Governor has directed an immediate investigation into the cause of the collapse of the water tank with a view to unravel the circumstances surrounding the collapse.

    The statement also emphasised that disciplinary actions will be taken against anyone culpable in the collapse of the water tank if it is discovered that someone failed to do the right thing abinitio.

    The statement further assured that Government will take necessary steps to avert future occurrence.

    It urged athletes and the very enthusiastic spectators to continue to savor the beauty of the competition which so far has recorded appreciable success.

  • In Delta it is the long forgotten Stephen Keshi Stadium

    In Delta it is the long forgotten Stephen Keshi Stadium

    THE 18,000-seater multi-purpose built Stephen Keshi Stadium project is a long forgotten project by successive administrations in Asaba-the Delta State Capital. It has been forgotten since 2001.

    The James Ibori administration in 1999 initiated the stadium project along with others which included Jay-Jay Okocha Stadium, Ogwashi-Uku, Aniocha South L.G.A, Ughelli Township Stadium, Ughelli North L.G.A, Warri Township Stadium, Warri, Oghara Township Stadium, Ethiope West L.G.A., Oleh Township Stadium, Isoko South L.G.A, Sapele Township Stadium, Sapele L.G.A.

    The Nation investigation reveals that many of these stadia scattered across the state have become a natural habitat for wild animals and a den for hoodlums with none performing the functions they were originally intended.

    Aside from the fact that a large majority of these stadia are dilapidated, Sapele and Stephen Keshi stadia have not been completed despite the fact that contract sum have almost been fully paid for.

    The Stephen Keshi Stadium, which foundation stone was laid by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001, under ex-Governor Ibori’s administration has remained a project characterized by undue politicisation, mismanagement of funds, and incompetence on the part of the contractor.

    Investigation revealed that the site of the edifice, which dominates the Asaba skyline, was originally designated by the Asaba community as an evil forest where the undesirables of the community were buried.

    Presently, the stadium is a bleak hollow structure with thickly encrusted terraces discoloured by algae and wild grasses-a veritable image of neglect and waste.

    Adorning the entire stadium are scaffoldings left behind by the contractor. The main bowl of the stadium is a tangled mass of tall grasses, providing a natural habitat to wild animals.

    The blue long span roofing has been blown away in many sections into the compound of houses whose grateful owners allegedly seized to mend their own leaky roofs.

    The former Uduaghan administration dilly-dallied with construction efforts with no meaningful work done until its tenure expired

    Ex- Delta Commissioner for Information, Chike Ogeah, under Uduaghan regime blamed the lack of development of the stadium on the fact that the facility lacked sufficient space to accommodate necessary facilities for expansion.

    At the height of public outcry in August 2010, Chairman, Visioni Stabilini, Dr. Wale Babalakin, contractors handling the project, appeared before the Delta State House of Assembly to explain the delay in completing the stadium, including the one in Sapele.

    The contractor assured that both stadia would be completed by April and July 2011, while pleading with the legislators to assist him in collecting the balance owed his company.

    His words, “We want to assure that we will complete the two jobs by April and July as we have resolved what has been holding us back. We know the importance of the projects and also know how important they are to Deltans, so be rest assured that we will do that.”

    But the contractor did not march words with action. Seven years after that solemn promise, the project still remains an unfinished business.

    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 also not to be.

    Aside christening the stadium, in honour of the late ex-Super Eagles Captain and Coach, the Uduaghan administration also sought divine intervention in completing the stadium, hinging the slow pace of work on spiritual manipulation by evil spirits.

    He had said, “I have told God that I 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 Dr. Chris Kwakpovwe, founder of Our Daily Manna Devotional publication to pray against spiritual inhibition stalling the progress of the project.

    Uduaghan enjoined Kwakpovwe to invoke the spirit of God on the stadium site to neutralize any negative spiritual inhibition.

    The cleric had on that solemn occasion grabbed a clump of earth from the Stephen Keshi’s Stadium, prayed against any negative force stalling the completion of the stadium.

    Despite all the spiritual exertions, the Stephen Keshi Stadium has remained uncompleted, the battered edifice apparently jeering at the puny efforts by government to remedy the situation.

    Recently, the current government led by Ifeanyi Okowa, has received approval from the Delta State House of Assembly for a loan request of N1.9billion to complete the stadium scheduled for completion next month, December 2017. December being few weeks away from today, it remains to be seen if the dream of a grand Stephen Keshi Stadium will ever come to pass.