Former Super Eagles player and 1996 Atlanta Olympic gold medallist, Daniel Amokachi, has commended the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, for fulfilling a 30-year-old promise made to members of the Nigerian football team that won gold at the 1996 Olympic Games.
Amokachi said the governor’s gesture of allocating plots of land to him and fellow Atlanta ’96 gold medallists, Garba Lawal and Emmanuel Babayaro, as well as naming streets after some of the members of the victorious squad, had restored their confidence in government.
The ex-SuperEagles player spoke on Tuesday while inspecting the ongoing reconstruction of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna alongside other football veterans.
Recalling the promises made to the Dream Team after their historic triumph in Atlanta, Amokachi said successive governments had failed to redeem most of the pledges made to the players.
He said, “When we won the Olympics gold medal in 1996, the Federal Government and state governments made several promises to us, but 30 years down the line, most of those promises were never fulfilled.
“But Governor Uba Sani has fulfilled his own promise. He has given myself, Garba Lawal and Emmanuel Babayaro plots of land. He has also directed that streets should be named after some of those who have not been immortalised.
“We lack the words to thank him for this kind gesture and for his promise to ensure that veteran footballers and coaches are rewarded during their lifetimes.”
Amokachi, who is also a football manager, said the governor’s decision to honour sports veterans while they were still alive was commendable.
Also speaking, Lawal, a former Super Eagles player and ex-General Manager of Kaduna United Football Club, described the ongoing reconstruction of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium as a major development that would restore Kaduna to its position as one of Nigeria’s football hubs.
Lawal said the facility, when completed, would meet international standards and provide a suitable venue for the national team to train and play.
“Now, the Super Eagles will not have to go to Uyo to train. This one is right here at my doorstep. It’s a wonderful project and, by the grace of God, we shall come and unveil it by November,” he said.
Babayaro, another member of the Atlanta Olympic-winning team, said Sani had succeeded in bringing together members of Kaduna’s football family and reviving the state’s passion for the sport.
“Governor Uba Sani has assembled the entire football family of Kaduna State and football is thriving again like we used to know it,” the former goalkeeper said.
Responding, Sani thanked the football veterans, coaches and administrators for their contributions to the development of sports and football in Kaduna State.
The governor said Kaduna remained one of Nigeria’s leading football-producing states, noting that several players from the state had made their marks internationally.
“Kaduna is the leading footballing state in Nigeria. We have produced more stars that have gone out of the country and made their marks globally,” he said.
Sani said his administration was determined to restore Kaduna’s lost glory in sports, particularly football, through investment in sporting infrastructure.
“The last time that any CAF football tournament was played in this stadium was in 2016, when the Super Eagles played against Egypt,” he recalled.
He said the poor state of the stadium compelled him to approach President Bola Tinubu to request that the facility be handed over to the state government for reconstruction.
“I made it very clear to him that I will demolish the stadium, which had 16,000 seating capacity and was built in 1964,” Sani said.
According to him, the newly reconstructed stadium will have a seating capacity of 33,000, making it bigger than the 31,000-capacity Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.
He added that the stadium would have a hybrid pitch combining natural grass and synthetic turf.
“When completed, Ahmadu Bello Stadium will be the only stadium in Nigeria with a FIFA-standard pitch,” the governor said.
Sani argued that Nigeria needed more CAF- and FIFA-standard stadia, noting that the country currently had only one CAF-standard football stadium and none that met FIFA standards.
The governor said the state government was investing heavily in sports infrastructure because of the economic opportunities created by sporting events.
“In the last World Cup that was hosted in the United States, the country made about $20bn to $24bn in terms of hotel accommodation, transportation and hospitality generally,” he said.
Sani added that Morocco generated about $1.4bn from hosting the CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournament, stressing that Kaduna was positioning itself to benefit economically from major sporting events.
