By Longtong Ibrahim
Kaduna (Nigeria) – The states of decay of the Nigeria’s National stadiums have been attributed to inadequate release of funding from the federal government for their proper maintenance.
Former Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Amos Adamu said this while speaking at a seminar to mark the end of 2015 Kaduna Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, recently in Kaduna.
He decried that the state of decay of the national stadium is not due to lack of poor maintenance culture believed to be the habit of a Nigerian man, but blame it on government not paying attention to funding.
He cited an example of the national stadium in Lagos where he said, “When it was completed, the federal government gave Julius Berger N1.5billion annually for its maintenance but when it was handed over to Nigerian, only N200million was given for maintenance which is grossly inadequate.”
“If you give us even half of the amount given to them, the stadium would be properly maintained, he added.
Commenting on grassroots sport development, Adamu said, more needs to be done emphasizing that, sporting facilities needs to be provided right from primary schools to higher institutions.
He lamented that, “In this country, no secondary school has even track field; in the university – not more than five in Nigeria has it but when you go to America, most of the schools have such facilities.”
He noted that what the country needs is to practically developed grassroots sports and the impact would be 100 percent better and felt on the international scene.
The ceremony features awards and medal presentations to winners of the various games held within the week.
Earlier at the commencement of the SWAN Week, there was an inter-media game for journalists across the 12 chapels of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kaduna state council, in table tennis, scrabble and athletics (50m, 100m and sprint relay).
