By Luminous Jannamike 

ABUJA – The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, on Monday assured that the renovation work on the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos will soon be completed.

Speaking when he paid a working visit to the  facilities, the Minister noted that since the scoreboard was functioning and the pitch already re-grassed, work on other facilities like the tartan tracks, the VIP lounge, and the spectator stands will be finished soon.

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According  to him “This facility was abandoned  for many years. The stadium, unlike the Abuja  Stadium, had a zero maintenance fund for almost 17 years, but we got Chief Adebutu Kesington  to get it back to life. 

“It took me a while to come here, but my coming is a validation of the fact that I’m impressed  with the level of work that has been done. I hope that very soon we can host events here once we get the place functional. We are going to clear the debris. The grass is being properly  maintained and the tracks will soon be laid and we are good to go.

“By April, we hope the facility can host a football match, and an athletics meeting that would bring the fans back to the stands.”

He explained  that measures would be put in place to get the control room back to life, so that the water sprinkler, the scoreboard and the lighting systems can become fully activated.  

On efforts to restore the master plan of the sports facility, the Minister said: “I had set up a task force to restore the Master plan of the stadium and to eject illegal occupants and remove illegal  structures. We took down more that 100 illegal  shops, we received  bashing from the press and some people that had lost their source of livelihood.

“This is a sports facility  and not a market place which holds a lot of fond memories. We have identified a parcel of land where we can build about 150 lock-up shops, a bank, fire service to accommodate  those that were evicted. 

“We are awaiting Mr. President’s anticipatory  approval. Meanwhile, we are working with  the Ministry of Works, the BPE and other government agencies. Once approval is given work would start in earnest.”