The Federal Government of Nigeria has formally transferred the custody and management of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna to the Kaduna State Government, in line with the implementation of the National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP).
The NSIP centres on sub-national governments as well as private sector involvement in sports development in Nigeria.
The Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, alongside the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasiru El-Rufai, who both signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of the Federal Government and Kaduna State Government reiterated the commitment of President Muhammad Buhari’s administration to sports development in Nigeria.
“The signing of the MoU signifies the official transfer of the stadium which is long overdue,” Dare said, adding that it follows the earlier traditions of transfer of Tafawa Balewa Stadium to the Bauchi State Government and Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium to the Enugu State Government.
The Sports Minister expressed confidence that the Kaduna State Government will develop and effectively manage the national infrastructural edifice for the benefit of the entire 19 Northern States and Nigeria, stressing that sports infrastructure is the backbone of Sports development.
He urged other State Governors to emulate the Kaduna State Government, who have spent over N300m to revive the formerly abandoned stadium making it accessible for sporting activities.
In his remarks, the Governor El-Rufai expressed gratitude to President Buhari and the Sports Minister for giving the State the opportunity to own and control the Ahmadu Bello Stadium bequeathed to the Northern States by the late Premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello, who incidentally was an active sports man.
El-Rufai stated further that some of his peers that grew up in Kaduna, see the stadium as an icon of tourist attraction and revenue generation.
“We have very great plans for the stadium, we intend to modernise it to a world standard edifice suitable for everyone to watch football and other sports events,” El-Rufai said.
The Governor also promised to revive the three Olympic standard Swimming Pools and collaborate with the private sector in ensuring that all other uncompleted facilities within the stadium, are fully completed and operational.
The highlight of the MoU signing occasion was a novelty football match between Team Dare – ‘Bonanza'(led by the Sports Minister) and Team El-Rufai – ‘Francis Lee’ (led by the Governor) which ended 2-1 in favour of the Governor’s side. The game was played at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium.
