The Confederation of African Football has certified the renovated Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja to host international matches, The PUNCH has learnt.
Sports minister Sunday Dare stated this while receiving billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote at the stadium on Thursday.
Dangote sponsored the rehabilitation of the pitch under the minister’s Adopt-A-Pitch initiative.
“I would like to inform you (Dangote) that we just received CAF certification of this stadium for international matches, which means that the World Cup qualifiers next month will be played here. This wouldn’t have been possible without your support,” Dare stated in a statement signed by his media aide, Toyin Ibitoye.
“I want to thank you for investing in the development of our sports and the fruit of that partnership has blossomed into what we see here today.”
Dangote, who was conducted round the pitch, expressed satisfaction with the job done.
The stadium pitch, which had hitherto turned bare, had lush green grass, with the sprinklers working as well as the two digital score boards beaming live, the statent added.
The businessman assured Dare of his continued support.
“You can always knock on our doors. We shouldn’t allow our stadia to collapse. Nigerians have a very strong love for sports, so I think we need to complement government’s efforts to ensure that everything works,” Dangote said.
According to a statement from the sports ministry, the revamped stadium is complete with nursery beds, two digital score boards, 24 sprinklers and two-year maintenance, as part of the contract reached with Dangote Industries under the Adopt-A-Pitch Public Private Partnership initiative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
The statement added that the Daura Stadium in Katsina State has also been completed, while the National Stadium, Lagos would be completed in May.
Source: PUNCH
