Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Thursday evening, visited Maracana stadium in Ajegunle, to announce his plan to transform the facility to a world class multi-purpose sports complex.
The initiative, he said, will help the youth harness their natural talents in a positive way.
Addressing a crowd comprising youths, dancehall artsiste, Daddy Showkey, and other residents of the area, Ambode said, โThe last time I came here, I promised that I was going to do something in this arena. I am not happy that after three years of my administration, the reconstruction of the Maracana stadium is yet to commence.
โHowever, the design is ready, the contractor is here, and they will start the work. If you go to Onikan stadium, you would see that we are rebuilding it to world class standard; by January it would be completed. The same contractor working on Onikan stadium will handle the Maracana Stadium,โ he said.
The governor assured that the new complex would also have a Volleyball Court, Tennis Court, Swimming Pool, Track and Field area, an all purpose events centre among others.
He said the contractor had also been given the mandate to address the challenge of flooding, in the area.
โAll the schools around here, we know that there is a challenge of flood disturbing them, and we are not happy about it; so, the same contractor will do the drainage in this area, and because of the road, we will do a jetty behind, so that we can use the ferry to bring athletes and sports people to this place,โ he said.
The governor, however, appealed to residents to cooperate with the government to transform the area, adding that when the facility is in place and handed over to them, they must go all out to protect it from vandalisation.
Earlier, giving an insight to the plan of work for the proposed Maracana complex, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Adebowale Akinsanya, said it will also accommodate an administrative building, and a bus terminal to bring athletes to and fro the complex.
โIn addition to these, we would do rehabilitation of the access roads because it is very key to getting into the stadium. What we want to do is to discourage people driving in, instead they would take buses to come in. So, there would be a small terminal for buses to come in. In addition as well, we are doing a jetty across, a shoreline protection and the jetty would be functional 24 hours.
Akinsanya said they were also in talks with the Ministry of Education, to improve on the facilities in the 58 schools located within the area.
In his speech, the Chairman of Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area, Ayoola Fatai, thanked the governor for visiting, assuring that the residents would cooperate to make the project a reality.
