The past week has been quite busy for residents of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital and the reason is not far-fetched; the state government did what successive administrations in the state could not do and it was a celebration with pomp and pageantry.
The event was the official commissioning of the remodelled Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba and Governor Seyi Makinde felt it was a good reason to blow his own trumpet. The ovation was loud as Ibadan hosted important personalities in the world of business, politics, sports and entertainment.
The highlight of the celebration is the showcasing of Governor Seyi Makinde as the man of the people. The huge amount of love he received from the masses was simply phenomenal. It was inspiring to see how ordinary folks on the streets of Ibadan, mostly market women and artisans thronged to the roadside to wave at his motorcade.
Ace musician Teni the entertainer dazzled dignitaries and other spectators at the commissioning to a session of beautiful performances. And when Governor Makinde led the retinue of guests led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar into the arena, the whole stadium was thrown into thunderous applause.
At all traffic positions during the VIP motorcade to the stadium, there was an enormous show of love to the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, as the crowd rented his name in chorus.
Between the people of Oyo State and their governor, the remodelled Lekan Salami Stadium is a promise kept. It is part of the Omi Tuntun agenda, which is a commitment to renewal and restoration by Governor Makinde.
The Makinde administration had promised massive investment in social infrastructure in Oyo State and if there is any white elephant in the room of infrastructural decay in the Pace Setters state, it is obviously the derelict state the Lekan Salami Stadium was before now.
Constructed in 1989, the stadium has lived for 32 years of neglect by successive administrations in Oyo State. However, under the leadership of Governor Makinde, a grass to grace story of the stadium began to unfold. The administration initiated the remodelling project that has taken the stadium to the level of earning hosting rights for international competitions. The main bowl of the stadium is fitted with FIFA-recommended specified standard natural grass, four dressing rooms which are equipped with modern showers, heaters and players’ lockers, modern and adjustable flood lights, five-mile radius CCTV, modern electronic scoreboard and the Video Assisted Referee (VAR).
In addition, all the stands in the stadium are fully covered apart from a VIP lounge equipped with grand style VIP seating arrangement. The unique aspect of the seating arrangement is that all the seats are numbered. In addition, the stadium boasts of two new specialized gymnasiums for combative sports and gymnastics; as well as a new 1,200-capacity tennis court. Of course, the remodelling work on the stadium would not be complete without the court as Governor Makinde is an avowed tennis enthusiast and it is hoped that the governor will, himself, find time to patronise the facility.
It is obvious that Governor Makinde is putting his money where is mouth is, by taking a bold step at empowering youthful sports enthusiasts. The governor has not hidden his policy priority of promoting Oyo State youths: be it in educational investments, agro-business, political and public service appointments and through sports development.
The remodelled stadium is equally expected to optimise sporting performance of Oyo State in the national sports festival, actualising Governor Makinde’s vision to shoot the state to the top of the table in future national sport festivals.
Lofty as the idea of the stadium renovation is and the facility upgrade around it, it is preposterous that some unscrupulous opposition elements still chose to pick a fault with the governor on the topic. They went to town attempting to blame the governor for causing the rainfall that clogged the field of play during the commissioning event and quickly shared some video of a leaking rooftop. They did not acknowledge that the stadium had been under a state of disrepair for 30 years and 8 of those years, at the minimum, are years when the government by the All Progressives Congress (APC) could have done something – no matter how little – on the stadium.
None of that meant anything to them! Rather, they went to the ultra highway of miscommunication trying the abuse the minds of the people about the effort of the Makinde administration. These politicians know that before the Wednesday, September 29, commissioning of that stadium, Ibadan had been under persistent rainfall which has saturated the soil from absorbing water. They blame the contractor for the leaking roof and the glee at which they share and rejoice about the viral video suggests that could have been the primary agent of saboteurs that compromised the roofing sheets.
But they know quite well that in many instances in European football, heavy rainfall causes the pitch to be waterlogged and reduces the kinetic impact of the ball. They know also that for a massive work of that scale, it is not impossible that there would be minor structural defects that the contractor would be obliged to fix even after the facility has been delivered.
The opposition in Oyo will not rejoice with the people for having a turn-around stadium. They will not be happy that the Makinde administration continues to deliver on its promises of renewal to the people. But whether they find a reason to rejoice with the people or not, Oyo State is in for a jolly good ride with Governor Makinde in the saddle and the people are not ready to stop that ride anytime soon.
Babajide Balogun sent this piece from Ologuneru, Ibadan.
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