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TAYO OLANIPEKUN
Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has lamented the dilapidated condition of the National Stadium situated in Surulere, Lagos.
The Minister, who, on Wednesday embarked on an inspection tour of the facility alongside Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode; Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick, and other top government functionaries, lamented the state of the stadium, which he described as a national disaster.
He called for a serious and comprehensive action to reposition the stadium and return it to its pride of place.
While expressing confidence in the ability of the Lagos State Government to transform the fortunes of the facility, Dalung specially thanked Governor Ambode for his interest and commitment to the success of the move to reposition the Stadium.
“We have gone round and we have seen the edifice in a sorry state. Whatever we can do to arrest the situation, we must do it. In my village, there is an adage, which says once there is fire disaster, there is no choice of liquid and any liquid that can contribute to extinguish the fire must be mobilized including liquor. But today, we have a disaster and we must do everything possible to extinguish it.
“I want to thank the Governor for finding time to come. I have received what I can call football gossip from Football Federation that if the Surulere Stadium is handed over to Lagos and renovated, in six months, the next match of Nigeria against Zambia would be played here,” the Minister said.
He also appealed to Governor Ambode to revamp the Stationary Stores Football Club of Lagos.
Some of the facilities inspected at the Stadium include the Molade Okoya Tennis Hall, 3000 Capacity Multi-Purpose Indoor Sports Hall, Beach Soccer Pitch, Synthetic Football Pitch and the 38,000 Capacity Main Bowl Football Field.
