At the moment, the playing surface of Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo is under serious pressure due to the number of matches it hosts almost on a weekly basis. The reason for the ongoing abuse of the 30,000 capacity stadium built by the president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, when he was the governor of Akwa Ibom State, is that it is the only facility that is approved by FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to host the Nigerian senior national football team’s matches. The privately owned Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, Ogun State can only host CAF inter-club competitions like the Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
In fact, Nigeria’s shame was exposed by CAF on July 11, 2024 when the continental football governing body published the list of stadiums it had approved to host its competitions. While South Africa topped the list with as many as 11 world class stadiums, Morocco, Egypt and Cote d’Ivoire followed with six each just as Algeria and Cameroon shone brightly with five and four stadiums respectively.
Even smaller nations like Botswana, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Uganda and Zambia have more than one approved stadium. But the self-acclaimed giant of Africa (Nigeria) has only one approved by CAF.
Before independence and post-independence, the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos was the official home ground of the Red Devils and the Green Eagles, which was renamed as the Super Eagles after the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) victory in 1994. However, when the Abuja National Stadium was built in 2003 for the 8th edition of the All Africa Games, the home ground of the Super Eagles shifted to Abuja.
Sadly, the National Stadium in Lagos was completely abandoned even as millions of naira was budgeted yearly by the Federal Ministry of Sports for its maintenance. What has become of the once beautiful stadium that hosted historic and memorable sporting events like the 1973 All Africa Games and the 1980 and 2002 AFCON finals is a story for another day.
From 2004, attention shifted to the Abuja National Stadium now MKO Abiola National Stadium. Sadly, the Stadium in Abuja also suffered the same fate that had befallen the one in Surulere. Due to poor maintenance, the playing surface of the 60,000 capacity MKO Abiola National Stadium, which constantly hosted socio-cultural and religious activities, became too ravaged to host international matches.
It was when the Abuja stadium pitch became a cattle rearing or horse racing ground that the Super Eagles were turned into a nomadic national team by the NFF. The senior national team of Nigeria played its home matches at the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar, Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano and the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.
Of course, it was the nomadic life that caused that tragic incident in 2005 when the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Against the wishes of most Nigerian fans, the then Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, took the last qualifying match to Kano where the Palancas Negras of Angola forced the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw at the Sani Abacha Stadium. While the Southern African nation picked the 2006 World Cup ticket on the away goal rule, Nigerians were left to rue the sporting disaster.
Galadima was heavily criticised for ‘forcing’ the foreign based Super Eagles players like Jay-Jay Okocha to play in the scorching sun in Kano. His shocking response was that the World Cup wasn’t Nigeria’s birthright. Many still believe that the infamous remark by the well-respected sports administrator cost him his second term as the NFA Chairman.
Most of the pitches in the aforementioned stadiums where the Super Eagles played their matches are fixed with natural grass, which makes their maintenance difficult for the half-baked groundsmen. At the moment, UJ Esuene Stadium, Samuel Ogbemudia, Ahmadu Bello Stadium and Stephen Keshi Stadium can’t host FIFA and CAF matches because they all have natural turfs, which are below international standard.
It is indeed shameful and worrisome that a country like Nigeria with all its accomplishments in football, and enormous resources cannot boast of at least three standard football pitches. However, there is a department of sports facilities in the Federal Ministry of Sports and money is allocated in the budget every year for the maintenance of national sporting facilities. So, why the present deficit in sporting infrastructure? It is also necessary to point out that even after the MKO Abiola Stadium swallowed Aliko Dangote’s $1m in the name of rehabilitation, the pitch is not fit to host Super Eagles matches again.
Since other stadiums have been abandoned, all international matches are now heading to the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium. Apart from the Super Eagles, Enyimba and Enugu Rangers are playing their CAF competitions there. If they manage to reach the group stage in their respective competitions, they will continue to use the same pitch. The stadium is also the traditional home ground of the state owned NPFL club, Akwa United.
Therefore, even as the people of Akwa Ibom are happily hosting high profile matches almost on a weekly basis, the pressure on the playing surface of the Godswill Akpabio Stadium is a serious concern. While the fans are smiling, the natural turf is groaning in severe pain due to the grueling battles by the gladiators.
Although the pitch is still maintained by the world acclaimed construction giants, Julius Berger, which built the stadium at the cost of $96m in 2012, there are fears that the present pressure might overwhelm the playing surface. Apart from football matches, the stadium, like those in other states, still plays host to political rallies and religious crusades.
So, the present situation portends great danger for Nigeria because the Federal Ministry of Sports does not appear to be doing anything to revive the other stadiums. If these stadia are not brought back to life, very soon, the Godswill Akpabio Stadium will cave in to the incessant pressure.
If that happens, the Super Eagles would be forced to play their home matches away from home like Benin Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Gambia, Lesotho, Eritrea and a host of other less endowed African countries without a single stadium approved by CAF.
It is only a mad man who goes to sleep when his house is on fire. Therefore, the relevant authorities should do something to avert the looming national embarrassment. We are presently enjoying one of the legacies of Senator Akpabio in Akwa Ibom State but in no distant future, we may be without a single CAF and FIFA approved stadium.
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