Governor Sani announces reconstruction of Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna
Governor of Kaduna State Uba Sani announced the reconstruction of Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna, Nigeria. According to him, the renovated arena will have 33,000 seats and a hybrid surface of natural and synthetic grass, which he said meets FIFA standards.
As Premium Times Nigeria reports, the stadium was built in 1964 and initially had a capacity of 16,000 seats. Sani said the facility had deteriorated to such an extent that he appealed to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu for permission for the state to take over the facility.
Stadium reconstruction
The governor explained that the reconstruction was driven by the desire to restore Kaduna's status as one of Nigeria's football centers. He also recalled that the last football tournament under the auspices of the Confederation of African Football at this stadium took place in 2016, when Nigeria's Super Eagles hosted Egypt.
According to Sani, the state authorities are also investing in sports because of potential revenue for the hotel industry, transport and other sectors.
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Honors for Olympic champions
Sani said that as part of the sports development program, he allocated plots of land to Kaduna natives who were members of Nigeria's football team that won gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. They include Daniel Amokachi, Garba Lawal and Emmanuel Babayaro. The governor also ordered streets to be named after other football veterans.
After inspecting the reconstruction project, Amokachi thanked the governor for fulfilling his promise. According to the footballer, federal and state authorities had made promises to the Olympic champions after their victory for 30 years, but had not fulfilled them.
Lawal called the reconstructed stadium a world-class facility and said it could spare the Super Eagles the need to travel to Uyo for training. Babayaro, for his part, said that Sani had united Kaduna's football community and restored the sport's former activity in the state.
