Historic opening in Abuja
LAGOS - Nigerian organisers of the All-Africa Games plan an “historic opening†of a magnificent but costly stadium which will be used to stage October’s event.
LAGOS - Nigerian organisers of the All-Africa Games plan an “historic opening†of a magnificent but costly stadium which will be used to stage October’s event.
The newly built Abuja National Stadium, to be opened in the capital this week, is an ultra-modern complex with a 60,000 all-seating capacity.
Among other facilities, it has a multi-purpose indoor sports hall, a gymnasium, velodrome for track cycling and hockey pitch with synthetic surface.
A 690-apartment Games village to house the expected 6,000 athletes and officials from 53 African countries is part of the complex.
The opening ceremony will be performed by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We’ll be making history as the first country to provide brand new facilities for the continental event,†Fan Ndubuoke, spokesman for the organisers of the Games, told Reuters.
South African singer Brenda Fassie, who arrived in Nigeria on Sunday, and some local artists would provide music.
But the construction has attracted criticism from experts and fans. Many people said building a new stadium showed that the priorities of the government were wrong.
The World Bank, an international donor agency, put the cost of building the stadium at $472 million and attacked the government for not using the money to improve Nigerian lives.
Ends
The newly built Abuja National Stadium, to be opened in the capital this week, is an ultra-modern complex with a 60,000 all-seating capacity.
Among other facilities, it has a multi-purpose indoor sports hall, a gymnasium, velodrome for track cycling and hockey pitch with synthetic surface.
A 690-apartment Games village to house the expected 6,000 athletes and officials from 53 African countries is part of the complex.
The opening ceremony will be performed by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We’ll be making history as the first country to provide brand new facilities for the continental event,†Fan Ndubuoke, spokesman for the organisers of the Games, told Reuters.
South African singer Brenda Fassie, who arrived in Nigeria on Sunday, and some local artists would provide music.
But the construction has attracted criticism from experts and fans. Many people said building a new stadium showed that the priorities of the government were wrong.
The World Bank, an international donor agency, put the cost of building the stadium at $472 million and attacked the government for not using the money to improve Nigerian lives.
Ends