PHOTOS: Inside the ‘abandoned’ stadium named after Abiola
On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari named the Abuja national stadium after MKO Abiola, presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Although this has been widely commended, the state of the stadium has left sour taste in the mouth.
The 60,000 capacity stadium is now turning to a shadow of itself, with dilapidated facilities, grass and refuse littering virtually every spot.
The stadium, located not far from the FCT gate, was inaugurated in 2003 and estimated to have gulped a total of $360 million.
Below are pictures of parts of the stadium taken when TheCable visited the facility on Saturday morning.
Dried tree branches lying just by the stadium
Overgrown trees and grass along one of the paths within the stadium
The football field now a shadow of itself
Flowers along dirty path unattended to
Stadium or grazing field?
No cleaner in sight when TheCable visited the facility
Bushes encroaching into the stadium area
Just by the entrance gate
Imagine playing football on a field like this
Untidy premises
Another part of the stadium taken over by grasses
Can someone help with a lawn mower, at least?
The stadium fence
The generator area
Right behind the stadium
Even the small entrance gates are not left out
Grass or shrubs?
Something to cheer over?
I believe the glory of this abandoned Stadium is now awakening by its New Name. The Government will definitely pay immediate attention to it.
Let’s just be patient great attention will be paid to the Stadium to avoid national disgrace.
My main concern is how the corrupt officials will capitalize on its renovation to “steal” Nigeria funds.
God bless Nigeria!
Good job.