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By Dotun Omisakin, Lagos The despicable state of sports facilities in Lagos State is becoming worrisome, especially to football clubs at the grassroots level as they grapple with lack of adequate training grounds for competitions. Weekend Trust reports that there are over 16 sports facilities under the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), including the Igbogbo Mini Stadium in Ikorodu, Alapa Stadium in Badagry, Epe Creational Centre, Orile Iganmu Playground, Jalisco Mini Stadium, Abesan Mini Stadium and Isheri Border Mini Stadium. Other facilities owned by the Lagos State Government are Amuto Playground, Ijede Mini Stadium, Ijede Mini Stadium, Sari Iganmu, Elegbata Playground, Campos Mini Stadium, Agege Township Stadium, Onikan, Rowe Sports Centre and Teslim Balogun Stadium.
Our correspondent observed that out of the over 10 stadia designed to host major football matches, only Onikan Stadium, renamed as Mobolaji Johnson Arena, is the only surviving sports facility playing host to over eight Lagos-based clubs in the country’s second tier professional league, the Nigerian National League (NNL) and Ikorodu City FC in the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL). Consequently, the burden on the 5,000-capacity Onikan Stadium, which was constructed in 1930 and renovated in 1980 and 2019, appears to be weighing it down as the weekly matches that come in quick successions are becoming unbearable, Unfortunately, other sporting facilities such Agege Township Stadium and the famous Teslim Balogun Stadium, which could have come to the help of the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Arena, have been abandoned. For so many years now, the facilities have been waiting for the much needed renovation.
It would be recalled that prior to the reopening of Onikan Stadium in 2019, Agege Stadium was the hub of football activities in Lagos as it played host to almost all the clubs in the NPFL, NNL and Nationwide League One (NLO). The stadium, which served as the traditional home ground of the now defunct Mountain of Fire Ministries (MFM) Football Club and hosted international matches as well, is now deserted as plans for its renovation have not seen the light of the day. Apart from Agege Stadium, the hope of the various clubs was raised considerably when the state government began the renovation work on the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, which houses the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC).
However, the renovation work on the 24,000-capacity stadium, which last hosted the Super Eagles when they thrashed Lesotho 3-0 in March 2021, is still yet to be completed, to the disappointment of the expectant clubs. It would also be recalled that before the end of 2024, an aide to the Lagos State governor, Mr Damilare Orimoloye had said: “I can boldly say that come the first quarter of 2024, we will have nothing less than five stadiums that would be commissioned by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.” Sadly, however, the story has not changed as most of the sports facilities built so many years ago by the Lagos State Government have been abandoned due to poor maintenance.
When Weekend Trust visited Jalisco Mini Stadium in Oshodi, which had produced so many legends like an ex-international goalkeeper, Ike Shoromu, the stadium was in ruins as if hit by a ballistic missile. In summary, the stadium has become an abode for illicit activities as drug addicts who wish to hide from the prying eyes of the law enforcement officers usually go there to smoke and transact other unlawful businesses. At the Isheri Mini Stadium, our correspondent found another sports facility that is completely abandoned, even as youths in the area continue to search for spaces to engage in sporting activities.
Apart from broken plastic seats, rodents were seen crawling in and out of the available toilets. At the TTC Mini Stadium in Ifako Ijaiye, it was a similar scenario as work on the sports facility has stopped since the playing turf was laid sometime in 2024. ‘A cabal doesn’t want Jalisco Stadium renovated’ A football stakeholder who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said the last time the state government renovated the stadium was when Babatunde Fashola was the governor of the state.
He alleged that some grassroots sports stakeholders seem happy that the facility has been abandoned. “Some of the stakeholders do not want the state government to renovate it. They organise ram fighting competitions and make money from it.
If this stadium is renovated, it would block their opportunities,” he said. Club owners express concern The chairman of Zenith Emperor FC, Raijh Edatomola, lamented how difficult it had been to secure a venue for his team to train, saying it was becoming a nightmare for club owners to get quality training facilities in Lagos. “From my own point of view, most of the governors in Nigeria are not interested in sports.
Other states have the availability of facilities like in primary and secondary schools, but here in Lagos State, there is no space. “We have lost so many young and promising players to drugs and online fraud, simply because there aren’t enough sporting facilities for them to develop their talents. There are simply no spaces for them to train,” he said.
He attributed the dearth of clubs from Lagos for Nigeria’s topflight competitions to the lack of facilities to develop talents that abound in the state. “The absence of adequate sports facilities is hampering the growth of football in Lagos. It is a worrisome development.
“How many Lagos-based teams are in the NPFL? We struggled to have one and one went back to the NNL. Even Ikorodu City that are now campaigning in the NPFL, we don’t know if they will survive this season. “What happened to the MFM? They died a natural death just because they moved from their fan base to a place where they weren’t known and the state government didn’t do anything to support them.
“You cannot say that because you are doing one project you will leave others to rot away,” he said. He, therefore, begged the state government to help speed up the completion of the ongoing renovation work on TTC and Agege Township Stadium. “We are pleading that Governor Sanwoolu should give more attention to sports facilities in the state,” he added.
The chairman of Spartan FC in Agege, Abdullahi Nakelly, also said that lack of sports facilities had continued to discourage some club owners. “It is affecting us a lot. In Ikeja division, we have a lot of clubs that are playing in the NLO, NLO 2 and NNL, but there is lack of facilities.
Most of the clubs are not training as they should due to the absence of training facilities. “I wish the commission would do something in the area of facility upgrade because, according to what I heard, the work remaining to complete the Agege Stadium isn’t much again. But I don’t know what is delaying it till now.
It is yet to be completed and that is what is slowing us down,” he added. TBS, Agege Stadium to be completed soon – Sports commission In an interview with the director-general of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Lekan Fatodu, he highlighted some of the stadiums undergoing renovation, saying they should be completed within the first quarter of 2025. “Basically, Teslim Balogun is under construction and we are moving very fast in accelerating the project delivery time.
Mr Governor has also approved the construction of eight stadia, which will serve as a platform for training so that it can limit pressure on Onikan Stadium. “Agege Stadium will also come on stage. We are trying as much as possible because of the fact that Lagos State is the epicenter of sports in Nigeria; and we need that infrastructure for our talents to have the opportunity to develop their skills.
“We should be looking at the latest first quarter of 2025. So, we are talking about three to four months,” he assured. NSC promises support Apart from the assurance from the director-general of the Lagos Sports Commission, the chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Malam Shehu Dikko, has promised to support all state commissions to develop sports facilities in their domains.
Speaking on Thursday in Lagos he said: “Part of the vision of what we are doing is that there is no stadium that is state or national in Nigeria. Every sports infrastructure is for everybody, so we will work with state governors to see how we can partner to get their facilities in their states working. “I have met with the Kaduna and Plateaus state governors.
It is part of the conversation we are having because we don’t want to differentiate this facility from the state or federal government, so we have to get all the facilities working. “If you look at the proposal, we have what we call mini stadia all over the country because we have to build communities for sports across the country. We want to go into the communities where we will find existing playgrounds and schools and put mini sports complexes,” he said.
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