AFCON

DILAPIDATED NATIONAL STADIUM, LAGOS CLOCKS 46

Published

6 years ago

December 4, 2018

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

The National Stadium in Lagos, once a pride to Nigeria, clocks 46 years this Tuesday from the date it was inaugurated by General Yakubu Gowon in 1972.

Now in complete state of repairs, the arena that hosted the 2^nd All Africa Games and the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations as well as some of the matches, including the final of the 2000 edition has long seen its better days.

Yet it sits at the centre of the metropolitan Lagos mainland and remains a reference point in any discourse of how facilities and national monuments disintegrate in Nigeria.

The sports standard of a region is most times, a product of the facilities it offers. Hence, the level of success is linked with the amount of resources committed to sports.

Such resources are more visible in the magnitude of stadiums available. Brazil for instance, boasts of imposing stadiums like Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Magalhaes Pinto in Balo Horizonte, Morunbi in Sao Paulo and Arrudao in Recife.

The trend is worldwide. The football strongholds of Europe and South America boast of magnificent sports edifices, which command attention in size and architecture.

Some of these great football grounds are time-honoured. Their histories date back to 1920s. Yet through maintenance and constant updating, they still meet the demands of present time

What is the situation at the Lagos National Stadium? In the bowels of the partly covered arena, the seats, which were fixed while the nation was crazy to host in 1995, what has become the FIFA U-20 World Cup, have become relics.

The electronic scoreboard merely stands as a huge black carcass atop the eastern semi-circular end. When Nigeria’s Flying Eagles hosted their Ethiopian counterparts at the stadium in one of the qualifying matches for the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championships, the Ethiopians described the National Stadium pitch as merely good for horse races. It has since gone from bad to worse as the initial lush green grass has gone from yellow to brown.

Relics of the scoreboard at the stadium

Even though the arena was opened on December 4, 1972 at a ceremony in which Nigeria beat Mali 3-0, its origin dates back to the 1951 when the site was acquired.

Then, the Nigeria National Stadium Board of Management had one Mr. C E Newham as chairman. The stadium was built in two stages. Phase one was a pre-fabricated timber terrace supported by scaffolding built in 1960 for the independence celebrations and the West African Games.

The remains of the once upon a time national pride

The arena was demolished in 1962 when a new design was adopted. Messrs Mence, Moore Mort Architects, prepared it. But work did not begin until the laying of foundation stone by Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, on March 14, 1970.

Owing to the eight-year delay in the reconstruction of the arena, some of the materials designed for use in the works were not available during construction period.

Substitution had to be made. One of such was the use of twisted bars in place of tentor bars as high tensile steel reinforcement.

Also many products such as reinforced rods and electrical cables were only available in metric sizes as opposed to imperial units used in the design. Instead of proposed cinder track, synthetic materials were used.

Also, introducing intermediate support reduced the length of cantilever, the pillars supporting the roof at the covered stands from 23.77 metres to about 15.84 metres.

Messrs. Ove Arup and Partner Consulting Engineers carried out the engineering work of the project.

The consulting electrical engineers were Messrs Ademola Fowora and Associates. The project was that of Ministry of Labour.

In view of the fact that it was a major civil engineering project, Federal Government directed that the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing should carry supervision of the construction, so that the Director of Federal Public Works was the engineer for the project.

The contractors, Messrs. Cappa and D’Alberto took possession of the site in October 1969. After clearing the site of the temporary structures, the setting out for the frames of stands was carried out.

One problem area was the floodlights towers, which stand at 62.18 metres. There was the problem of reaching the top of the four towers by crane.

Then, the tallest crane in Lagos was 38.1 metres. Trial concrete mixes were carried out for the various types of concrete to be used for the construction works.

Suitable mixes were obtained and work progressed until there was shortage of steel reinforcement. Modifications were made and work ended early in January 1973 just in time for the 2nd All Africa Games, which acted as a catalyst for speeding up the beginning and completion of the project.

The result is a saucer-shaped main bowl. It is served by 12 ramps leading to main bowl and the stands have 72 exit points. The stadium could hold about 50,000 spectators. Two thousand of these occupied the standing terraces until the sections were phased out during the renovation of the stadium.

As part of preparations to host the World Youth Championship in 1995, the stadium’s concrete slabs were replaced with seats for individuals thus reducing the stadium’s capacity from 50,000 to 39,858.

The once glamorous arena no longer holds sports meets, but has turned into social hangout place and occasional used for religious gatherings and a haven for street urchins.

It last hosted the national football team on April 30, 2004 when a second tier Nigerian team lost 0-1 to Senegal in a trade-missioned LG sponsored competition.

AFCON

Nigeria’s AFCON 2025 fixtures almost in same pattern with World Cup qualifiers

Published

2 weeks ago

July 12, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Confederation of African Football (CAF) has now released the full fixtures of the qualifying series for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

The fixtures for the Nigerian team is almost in the same pattern with that of the 2026 World Cup qualification which has seen the Super Eagles wobbling.

Like that of the World Cup, the Super Eagles will begin their quest for qualifcation for AFCON with a home game in Uyo as they will host Benin Republic.

As it was in the World Cup, they will then head to Rwanda. Last November, their second match was played in Rwanda which hosted Zimbabwe home match. This time the Super Eagles will be facing Rwanda, the same team they will meet when the World Cup qualification series resume in March next year.

On Match Day 3, the Super Eagles will host Libya and will have the reverse fixture immediately after that of Match Day 3.

Later they travel to Benin for Match Day 5 before hosting Rwanda on the last match day.

The Fixtures

September 2 – Nigeria vs Benin Republic; Libya vs Rwanda

September 6 – Rwanda vs Nigeria; Benin Republic vs Libya

October 11 – Nigeria vs Libya; Benin Republic vs Rwanda

October 16 – Libya vs Nigeria; Rwanda vs Benin Republic

November 11 – Benin Republic vs Nigeria; Rwanda vs Libya

November 15 – Nigeria vs Rwanda; Libya vs Benin Republic

The top two teams qualify for AFCON 2025

AFCON

Rohr roars warning to Benin; Nigeria, Rwanda will not be easy

Published

3 weeks ago

July 5, 2024

Kunle Solaja

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Former Nigeria manager, Gernot Rohr now handling Benin Republic has warned The Cheetahs of Benin not to expect an easy match when the team meet Rwanda and Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers later this month.

Last month, he led his team to defeat both Rwanda and Nigeria in World Cup qualifying duels in Abidjan, where Benin Republic are compelled to play their home matches following inadequate facilities at home.

Benin’s 1-0 defeat of Rwanda was Rohr’s first victory with the team. Days later, he followed up with a 2-1 defeat of Nigeria, the first Benin Republic victory in over 65 years.

Those wins have put Benin in the frame of possible qualification for the World Cup. They are now to meet Nigeria and Rwanda again in World Cup qualifiers.

It won’t be easy, remarked Rohr. Hear the Franco-German as he spoke in French but translated into English for the Sports Village Square: “From September we will play against Nigeria before facing Libya and Rwanda.

“These are three difficult opponents. We had already played Rwanda and Nigeria but be careful, it’s not because we won Rwanda and Nigeria that it will be easy matches.

“ We know that it is possible to achieve good performances again. We know that Nigeria with its great players will want to take revenge against us.

“ I think it will probably be an interesting match in Uyo before continuing against Libya. I suppose in Abidjan because in September the Mathieu Kerekou friendship stadium will not be ready.

“Everything will be decided in three months in September, October and November. It’s a difficult group but it’s playable.

“You have to finish in the top two. We had a team that is becoming solid, where the players are like brothers, accomplices. I hope we will recover the players who were absent. We are confident.”

AFCON

Coaches react after intriguing Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers Draw

Published

3 weeks ago

July 5, 2024

Kunle Solaja

The journey towards qualification to the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 shifted a gear higher on Thursday, after CAF officially conducted the draw of the qualifiers in Johannesburg South Africa.

A total of 48 nations will vie for the 24 places that will contests the 35th edition of Africa’s most prestigious competition.

This is what some of the coaches has to say in reaction to the draw outcomes.

Emerse Fae, Cote d’Ivoire coach

“I am satisfied because we are going to play against Zambia, a team that we know very well. In our last qualifying campaign, we lost against them. We know what mistakes to avoid.

“I am also satisfied because I did not want to have countries geographically far from Cote d’Ivoire which will lessen the travel load. That said, in Africa, there are no longer small teams. All the teams will want to challenge us because we are the reigning champions”

Leslie Notši

“The draw is very interesting because when you have the host in your group, it means they qualify automatically for the tournament, and you have to double your efforts to secure the remaining qualification spot which will be contested by the three other teams in the group.

“We will work very hard to see to it that we are competitive side and try as much as we can to get maximum points in matches against countries that are with us in our group. It will be very important to do well in our home games and I know all eyes will be on “Morocco as the hosts and a powerhouse in our group. We will draw inspiration from recent games where we played the likes of Nigeria as well as Cote d’voire and were able to frustrate them”

Amir Abdou, Mauritania Coach

“Quite a complicated draw. Egypt will be the big contender for qualification. They have a good track record that speaks volumes.

“Seven times African champions – that’s no small thing. We also have Cape Verde who eliminated us during the last AFCON.

“This team is made up of many quality players. We have Botswana, they are having a good qualifying campaign for the World Cup. We have a pretty strong group. It’s up to us to believe in ourselves. We will do everything we can to achieve our fourth participation in the AFCON”.

Kévin Nicaise, Chad coach

“We are already having the reigning African champions facing the last qualified team in the FIFA rankings. These will definitely be very difficult matches played at high intensity. We will fight to defend our nation’s pride. The group remains relatively open, and we will approach these qualifications with humility and ambition”.

Badou Zaki, Niger coach

“We have every chance of qualifying. For me, Ghana is a football country with a team that is blessed with great professionals. But this is not the team of 5 or 6 years ago. Even at home, they can lose.

“Angola had a good showing at the last AFCON with their beautiful, modern and fast football. It’s a team that shook up the big teams in Cote d’Ivoire.

“I know Sudan very well. They are first in their World Cup qualifying group. They are going to be dangerous, but we know our strengths and we know we can go far”

-CAF