Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Sunday Dare has assured that the ongoing rehabilitation work at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, and National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos will be accelerated and completed as quickly possible.
Speaking today, the Minister said “the on going rehabilitation work at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, being undertaken by Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, courtesy of Chief Adebutu Kensington will soon be completed.
“The Surulere Stadium was abandoned for so many years. We started by ejecting illegal occupants and cleared illegal structures to bring out the beauty of the edifice which is comparable to any top Stadium in the world.
“By the schedule of the contractors, the rehabilitation will be completed by June, the Minister said.
“Things have changed from the way we met them. The “adopt a pitch” initiative is working, adopt an athlete is also yielding results. One of the things that gives me the most concern is the welfare of athletes, both retired and active.
“The retired ones are not well catered for. We muted the idea of setting up the Athletes Welfare Fund, later changed to Sports Development Fund. We have spoken to the NFF, AFN to set up welfare scheme to assist those who are in need of support.
“We started with assistance to the mothers of late Rashidi Yekini, Samuel Okwaraji, Sunday Bada and Ali Jeje Ibrahim. We also supported the injured female basketball player who needed surgery.
“We worked closely with the Lagos State Government to assist Yisa Sofoluwe, unfortunately he could not survive. We shall continue to do our best to improve the welfare of our sportsmen and women”, Chief Dare assures.
