Aliko Dangote never hide his passion for football and this he expressed following his overture on acquiring Arsenal FC of England; an ambition he continues to amplify.
But at home, his generosity toward the national senior team, Super Eagles cannot be underestimated that at several occasions he had donated to the team and this has been a continuous interest.
In August 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Dangote decided to put action to work when he embraced the idea of the Adopt-A-Pitch initiative of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development under Sunday Dare.
The billionaire took charge of the renovation of the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja and this he pursued with vigour until last week when he visited the stadium to assess the level of work carried out on her behalf by an indigenous construction company Aron Nigeria Limited.
During the visit, Dangote spoke on his intention to do more for sports, “We will continue to invest in our youth. We have the best-talented youth and I think football is one of the key areas that we love as Nigerians. Naturally, we love football and we will continue to invest and make sure we won’t even look outside first, we will look indoor first and we will continue to invest,” Dangote said in an interview with Naija Info, Abuja.
He also expressed his willingness to invest in Nigeria football when asked during the visit, he simply said: “Yes, we would. Whatever it takes, we will make sure that yes Nigeria will be at the top.
“We will not abandon our own sport and in this our country, if we don’t do it, nobody else will come and do it for us. Like what I said, I just said something earlier that we will continue to support sports here in Nigeria especially football.”
To show his passion for Super Eagles to be part of the party in Qatar later this year, Dangote said: “It is not only important to me that Nigeria qualifies for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but it is also important to all of us here. That is what will make us proud as Nigerians. If Nigeria doesn’t really qualify, I won’t go there, at all.”
He expressed satisfaction with the work carried out at the stadium during his tour of the sprawling facility. “Rest assured of our continued support and you can always knock on our doors. Nigerians have a very strong love for sports, so I think we need to complement the government’s efforts to ensure that everything works,” he said.
A delighted Dare lauded Dangote for supporting the development of sports, adding that he is the first person to embrace the stadium-adoption policy. “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,” he said.
The revamped stadium is already completed with nursery beds, two digital scoreboards, 24 sprinklers, and two-year maintenance.
The project is part of the contract reached with Dangote Industries under the public-private partnership initiative of the sports ministry.
Dangote adopted the Abuja stadium with repair works commencing August 2020, while another billionaire and chairman of Premier Lotto, Kessington Adebutu also agreed to foot the bills for the rehabilitation of the National Stadium, Lagos.
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Source: The Nation
