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| Amaju Pinnick |
He
was all smiles as he led the members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)
board round the new magnificent Uyo International Stadium. As they took in the
luxuriant grass of the compact arena, Amaju Pinnick, who was barely three weeks
into office as NFF President, could not stop thanking God that so early in his
tenure, he has already been blessed with a structure as beautiful as the Uyo
Stadium. His elation was evident when the contractors informed the NFF board
that the arena would be ready for Nigeria’s last game in the qualifying series
of the Morocco 2015 African Nations Cup.
The stadium, located across three villages on 48 hectares of land, has four
main sections and levels described by officials of Julius Berger as the most
modern organization of an all-sport facility anywhere in the world.
Aside the well laid-out seat arrangement, the VIP and VVIP lounges are bullet-proof
to secure the occupants against any terrorist attack.
Surprised that a Nigerian state thought of constructing such a wonderful
stadium, Pinnick could not help but repeat severally, ‘This is incredible. This
is wonderful. At last, we have a stadium that we can invite any team in the
world to come and play on.’
According to Pinnick, “This stadium is majestic, amazing; it is a timeless and
priceless piece of architecture. It is the first of its kind in West Africa.
“It is a combination of what I saw in Munich, that is the Allianz Arena and the
Soccer City in South Africa.
“It is trendy, but smaller and I think this should be the pride of not just
Nigeria, but the entire West Africa.”
Listening to the Project Consultant, Ime Ekpo, describing the facilities
available at the Uyo International Stadium, one was taken back to the wonderful
Sao Paolo Stadium in Brazil, where Argentina and Holland gave the world one of
the best games of the 2014 World Cup.
According to Ekpo: “This stadium has two scoreboards that comprise electronic
scoreboard and video facilities for replays. The floodlight is the most
modern in the world right now. There are cameras that can detect even your text
messages and we have facilities for people with all types of handicap.
“We also have 30 emergency exits that will ensure that everybody leaves the
stadium complex within six minutes.’’
He added that the facility management team put together by the state government
takes care of the four levels of the stadium, the main bowl, the tennis area,
the technical areas and the access level.
Ekpo revealed that the indoor sports hall is in the second phase of the
project, but the beauty of the whole arrangement, he said, is the maintenance
agreement Governor Akpabio has with Julius Berger, which gives the builders the
job of taking care of the facility for 10 years.
According
to Ekpo, because the stadium is a multi-sport facility, there is a six-lane
track built specifically for athletes to train, just as the stadium has a
warm-up area for all sports.
“We have a nursery, where we grow natural grass so that at the end of every
game, if there is any damaged area of the football pitch, we will just
transplant grass to repair it.
“As is the case in big international stadia, our dressing rooms have lockers
for every athlete or player, who is expected to put his things there, lock it
and hold the key.
“We also have a helipad, which is accessible through the ambulance bay close to
the clinic. This ensures that any critically injured athlete is transferred to
the new Akwa Ibom International Hospital immediately.”
After
going through the facilities in the stadium, Pinnick, who announced that the
facility has provided a new home for the Super Eagles, said, “I am very
delighted that we have this kind of facility in Nigeria and together with the
executive board of the NFF, we have decided that Nigeria’s last game in the
AFCON qualifying series against South Africa will hold here on November 19.
“The NFF will meet with the Akwa Ibom government to discuss how we can make the
best use of this stadium.
“We are looking at playing our international friendlies in this beautiful
edifice instead of going to England to play in Fulham FC’s ground, which is not
as majestic as this place. In fact, only a few stadia in England can compare to
the Uyo stadium.
“So, we will work to bring Spain, Argentina, Germany, Brazil and other top
countries to play against the Super Eagles as we rebuild our team. It doesn’t
matter if they beat us in those games, we want to be playing here in our
country instead of renting grounds in other countries.”
Aside becoming a good home for the national teams, Pinnick also sees a new
window of opportunity for the youths of Akwa Ibom State.
“You should also understand that Akwa Ibom State is a proud footballing state,
which has given Nigeria such artistes as Etim Esin, James Etokebe, Uwem
Ekarika, Isong Isang and Charles Bassey, among others. So bringing the Eagles
here will further motivate the youths of Akwa Ibom to work harder to become
like their idols.
“We will also encourage other states to emulate what Akwa Ibom has done. If
they cannot build new stadia, they should upgrade their existing ones so that
we can have good quality grounds to play on.
“We will continue to thank Cross River State for the massive role they played
in seeing that Nigeria qualified for both the Under-17 Wood Cup, which we won
in 2013 and the Brazil 2014 World Cup. We also call on Kaduna, Katsina, Kano,
Bauchi and other states to improve o their facilities.”
Still
speaking on the legacy Governor Akpabio is leaving in his state at the tail end
of his tenure, Pinnick remarked: “I am excited to hear that the state
government has a 10-year agreement with Julius Berger for the maintenance of the
stadium. This means that in the next 10 years, we will still see this edifice
as beautiful as it is now.
“The maintenance, to use the governor’s words, is an uncommon maintenance. Even
if I may sound subjective, but I think this is a legacy that will go down in
the history of not just Akwa Ibom or Nigeria, but in the entire West Africa as
one of the great structures we have.
“So,
I will suggest that the next governor of the state in his inaugural speech
should rename the stadium ‘Godswill Akpabio Stadium.’ If he doesn’t want to do
that, Akwa Ibomites should compel him to do so.
“Akpabio has transformed the state so much that hotels are flourishing,
industries are springing up here and there. I was here eight years ago and
coming here now I find it difficult to believe that it is still the same
state.”
Earlier while explaining the reason behind the construction of the stadium,
Governor Akpabio told his visitors that the facility was the state’s
contribution to sports development in Nigeria, adding that he had thought of
such projects even before he assumed leadership of the state.
“Before I became a governor I used to wonder what our leaders saw when they
travelled to the developed countries. Did they see dilapidated
infrastructure? Did they see indiscipline? Why couldn’t we have such
infrastructures that we see abroad here?
“This is part of the reason we are not respected by outsiders. Sometimes, it is
a shame that when a match is going on you see fans running into the pitch to
cause trouble because the field is not secured. And because of that people see
us as barbarians.
“So, when I became governor, I promised to do my best to bring what I see
outside the country to my state and by implication to Nigeria.
“I see what we have done here as a challenge to governance in Nigeria. I am
proud of not just the infrastructure, but the zeal our people put into bringing
it to reality.”
He
commended the contractors, Julius Berger, for delivering a world-class facility
according to specification and on time.
To the leadership of the NFF, he said: “I congratulate you because in less than
one month in office you have a brand new international stadium. I want to hand
it over to you to use in the best way it will be beneficial to Nigerians.
“If you are not in Port Harcourt…if you are not in Kaduna or Calabar, let us
also have you here in Uyo to play.”
Governor Akpabio disclosed that aside the stadium Akwa Ibom also has other
ancillary facilities that would make visitors’ stay in the state a worthy experience.
He said: “We did not just stop at building a stadium, we also have other
facilities, including a world-class Ibom Tropicana Entertainment Centre, which
has a 250-bedroom five star hotel, cinema halls, shopping malls and wet and dry
park. It will be commissioned in January.
“We
also have another hotel facility dedicated to sportsmen, Sheraton by Four
Points in Ikot Ekpene, which is 20 minutes from here.
“It is a 12-storey hotel and we are now doing the interior finishing works.
That means we have added two international hotels so that when two teams come
to town, they will choose where to stay comfortably.”
He revealed that the state has constructed a modern training pitch inside the
Uyo stadium complex, which is complete with a six-lane tartan track, while the
old township stadium would also serve as another training facility.
“We have some other smaller stadia under construction across the state to
ensure that no matter the number of teams in town, they will see where to
play.”
Moved by the quality of what they saw at the new Uyo Stadium, the NFF board
members held a brief meeting and thereafter announced that the new facility
will host Nigeria’s November 19 African Nations Cup qualifier against South
Africa.
According to Amaju, “we will strive to utilize this stadium to the fullest so
that our players will no longer fear to come home to play for us because of bad
pitches.”
Culled: The Guardian
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