FG to return Ahmadu Bello Stadium to Kaduna Jan 27

The federal government on Friday approved the return of Ahmadu Bello Stadium to the Kaduna government, making the state claim full custody of the facility.

The handing over took place in Abuja as Sunday Dare, the youth and sport development minister, received Nasir el-Rufai, the Kaduna state governor, in his office in Abuja.

“The Federal Government has concluded plans to formerly hand over the stadium to the Kaduna State government on January 27 with a view to ensuring more participation of the country’s teeming youth in sporting activities,” Dare said.

The minister said the ministry would on January 27 visit the stadium in Kaduna; not only to sign a handover MoU but to also witness the novelty match between the governor and the minister, organised to motivate young footballers on parade.

According to him, the Adopt-a-Facility initiative of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration — through the sports and youth development ministry — aimed at leveraging on private investors to renovate and maintain sporting infrastructure across the country.

“When we started the initiative, we approached two individuals from the private sector; Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Adebutu Kessington. The third person we went to was the Governor of Kaduna State, who directed his Commissioner for Sports Development to look into all the aspects of renovation needed at the stadium and undertake the necessary renovation,” he said.

El-Rufai assured that the stadium would not only be upgraded to a world class standard but would also be used to develop key economic and social opportunities for Kaduna state.

“Our state has a history of producing football talents for Nigeria, such as Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi and Tijani Babangida who have done the nation proud at various international competitions,” the governor added.

The Ahmadu Bello Stadium is one of the oldest stadia in Nigeria and was designed in 1965.

With 16,000 capacity, the stadium has hosted several games involving the national teams and two FIFA tournaments — 1999 under-20 World Cup and 2009 under-17 World Cup.