Owing to the deplorable state of the Surulere National Stadium, Governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode, has asked the federal government to let the state government take over the sports facility, raise it to world standard, and deploy it for youth empowerment and employment.
He made the request on Wednesday after embarking on an extensive inspection tour of the facilities in the Stadium alongside the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Mr. Amaju Pinnick and other top government functionaries.
Ambode expressed preparedness to hit the ground running towards restoring the old glory of the Stadium once officially handed over to the State.
The Governor, who recalled how enthusiastic and interesting it was for people in the past to visit the Surulere Stadium even with their families to watch matches and catch fun among others, said repositioning the Stadium would not only help to bring about layers of employment but that it would also facilitate family bonding.
“With the state of affairs here, we cannot fold our arms and just leave this monument to just waste away. The last match that was played here was about fifteen years ago but the truth is this, the inner key to youth empowerment and youth employment is actually in re-establishing this edifice to its real world class standard.
“What we ask for in Lagos is not as if we are being aggressive, we just think that we need to stand up for leadership here and take over the National Stadium,
“This visit is very historic. I recall that during our campaign, we promised that we are going to use tourism, entertainment and arts and sports to drive youth employment as well as drive excellence. So, this is just one chapter in that roadmap to growing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Lagos.” the Governor said.
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