AFCON
DILAPIDATED NATIONAL STADIUM, LAGOS CLOCKS 46
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The National Stadium in Lagos, once a pride to Nigeria, clocks 46 years this Tuesday from the date it was inaugurated by General Yakubu Gowon in 1972.
Now in complete state of repairs, the arena that hosted the 2nd All Africa Games and the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations as well as some of the matches, including the final of the 2000 edition has long seen its better days.
Yet it sits at the centre of the metropolitan Lagos mainland and remains a reference point in any discourse of how facilities and national monuments disintegrate in Nigeria.
The sports standard of a region is most times, a product of the facilities it offers. Hence, the level of success is linked with the amount of resources committed to sports.
Such resources are more visible in the magnitude of stadiums available. Brazil for instance, boasts of imposing stadiums like Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Magalhaes Pinto in Balo Horizonte, Morunbi in Sao Paulo and Arrudao in Recife.
The trend is worldwide. The football strongholds of Europe and South America boast of magnificent sports edifices, which command attention in size and architecture.
Some of these great football grounds are time-honoured. Their histories date back to 1920s. Yet through maintenance and constant updating, they still meet the demands of present time
What is the situation at the Lagos National Stadium? In the bowels of the partly covered arena, the seats, which were fixed while the nation was crazy to host in 1995, what has become the FIFA U-20 World Cup, have become relics.
The electronic scoreboard merely stands as a huge black carcass atop the eastern semi-circular end. When Nigeria’s Flying Eagles hosted their Ethiopian counterparts at the stadium in one of the qualifying matches for the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championships, the Ethiopians described the National Stadium pitch as merely good for horse races. It has since gone from bad to worse as the initial lush green grass has gone from yellow to brown.
Relics of the scoreboard at the stadium
Even though the arena was opened on December 4, 1972 at a ceremony in which Nigeria beat Mali 3-0, its origin dates back to the 1951 when the site was acquired.
Then, the Nigeria National Stadium Board of Management had one Mr. C E Newham as chairman. The stadium was built in two stages. Phase one was a pre-fabricated timber terrace supported by scaffolding built in 1960 for the independence celebrations and the West African Games.
The remains of the once upon a time national pride
The arena was demolished in 1962 when a new design was adopted. Messrs Mence, Moore Mort Architects, prepared it. But work did not begin until the laying of foundation stone by Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, on March 14, 1970.
Owing to the eight-year delay in the reconstruction of the arena, some of the materials designed for use in the works were not available during construction period.
Substitution had to be made. One of such was the use of twisted bars in place of tentor bars as high tensile steel reinforcement.
Also many products such as reinforced rods and electrical cables were only available in metric sizes as opposed to imperial units used in the design. Instead of proposed cinder track, synthetic materials were used.
Also, introducing intermediate support reduced the length of cantilever, the pillars supporting the roof at the covered stands from 23.77 metres to about 15.84 metres.
Messrs. Ove Arup and Partner Consulting Engineers carried out the engineering work of the project.
The consulting electrical engineers were Messrs Ademola Fowora and Associates. The project was that of Ministry of Labour.
In view of the fact that it was a major civil engineering project, Federal Government directed that the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing should carry supervision of the construction, so that the Director of Federal Public Works was the engineer for the project.
The contractors, Messrs. Cappa and D’Alberto took possession of the site in October 1969. After clearing the site of the temporary structures, the setting out for the frames of stands was carried out.
One problem area was the floodlights towers, which stand at 62.18 metres. There was the problem of reaching the top of the four towers by crane.
Then, the tallest crane in Lagos was 38.1 metres. Trial concrete mixes were carried out for the various types of concrete to be used for the construction works.
Suitable mixes were obtained and work progressed until there was shortage of steel reinforcement. Modifications were made and work ended early in January 1973 just in time for the 2nd All Africa Games, which acted as a catalyst for speeding up the beginning and completion of the project.
The result is a saucer-shaped main bowl. It is served by 12 ramps leading to main bowl and the stands have 72 exit points. The stadium could hold about 50,000 spectators. Two thousand of these occupied the standing terraces until the sections were phased out during the renovation of the stadium.
As part of preparations to host the World Youth Championship in 1995, the stadium’s concrete slabs were replaced with seats for individuals thus reducing the stadium’s capacity from 50,000 to 39,858.
The once glamorous arena no longer holds sports meets, but has turned into social hangout place and occasional used for religious gatherings and a haven for street urchins.
It last hosted the national football team on April 30, 2004 when a second tier Nigerian team lost 0-1 to Senegal in a trade-missioned LG sponsored competition.
The Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) has kicked off a European promotional tour themed “Morocco, Land of Football” to boost the country’s visibility ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The roadshow, which began on June 16 and runs through June 23, is making stops in five key European cities: Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Milan.
According to a press release, the initiative is designed to enhance Morocco’s international profile through a blend of sports and cultural promotion, as the kingdom prepares to host the continent’s premier football tournament.
“Morocco is preparing to welcome Africa. Through this roadshow, we aim to tell a collective story of a country oriented towards the future, proud of its roots, and passionate about football,” said Achraf Fayda, Director General of ONMT.
The roadshow stems from a strategic partnership signed in April between the ONMT and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), with the shared goal of positioning Morocco as a leading global destination for both football and tourism by 2030.
At each stop, the tour is expected to engage over 100 travel agents, tour operators, media professionals, and African tourism experts. Participants are treated to immersive, multisensory experiences that highlight Morocco’s tourism offerings, while also facilitating networking with sports personalities.
The campaign targets travel professionals, sports industry stakeholders, and digital content creators as part of ONMT’s broader strategy to leverage AFCON 2025 for tourism development and international branding.
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The African Football Confederation (CAF) and Royal Air Maroc (RAM) have sealed a historic strategic partnership that grants Morocco’s national airline the status of “Official Global Partner” for upcoming major African football competitions.
The agreement was signed Saturday morning in Casablanca, in the presence of Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) President Fouzi Lekjaâ.
This partnership encompasses several prestigious tournaments, including the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (AFCON) 2025 (December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026) and CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (WAFCON) 2024 (July 5-26, 2025).
The agreement also covers CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF Champions League 2024/2025 Finals, CAF Confederation Cup 2024/2025 Finals, and the CAF Women’s Champions League 2025.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe voiced enthusiasm about the collaboration.
“We are excited about the partnership between CAF and Royal Air Maroc, a world-class airline that will provide comfort and fly NationalTeams participating in the CAF competitions,” he said.
“We are confident that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 will be the most successful AFCON in the history of this competition.”
The agreement strengthens RAM’s footprint across Africa and globally, solidifying its role as a strategic gateway between Africa and the rest of the world. It also aligns with Morocco’s emergence as an international sports hub, with the country preparing to host AFCON 2025 and co-host the FIFA World Cup 2030.
RAM’s Chairman and CEO Hamid Addou stated: “This historic partnership with CAF aligns fully with our strategic vision as an airline deeply rooted in Africa and committed to its development.”
“Royal Air Maroc doesn’t just connect destinations; it builds bridges between cultures and passions. By supporting the continent’s biggest football competitions, we reaffirm our role as a facilitator of human and sporting exchanges,” he continued.
500,000 supporters expected
Beyond its partnership role, RAM will implement an exceptional operational system to meet increased demand during CAF competitions. The airline plans to welcome over 500,000 supporters for AFCON 2025.
“We believe we will surpass this figure by far,” revealed Addou. “We will be ready to accommodate these supporters across Royal Air Maroc’s entire network.”
The airline intends to double seat capacity from qualified countries already served by RAM, such as Dakar, Abidjan, Cairo, Tunis, Bamako, Lagos, and Douala.
RAM will also intensify flight frequencies from European cities with large African communities, including Paris, Brussels, Milan, London, Marseille, Lyon, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Additionally, the airline will establish a dedicated program for domestic air transport of national teams, shuttling them between their base camps and host cities.
This positioning establishes RAM as the primary connector between Africa and Europe through its Casablanca hub. FRMF President Fouzi Lekjaâ noted that the contract “reinforces Royal Air Maroc’s first-rate leadership role in Africa.”
“Royal Air Maroc is no stranger to football,” Lekjaâ added. “It has always supported generations of our athletes and footballers here in Morocco.”
“With this expertise and experience, they will contribute significantly to making AFCON 2025 Morocco exceptional, a historic turning point in African football, cultural coexistence and African cultural exchange,” he concluded.
Addou stressed RAM’s commitment to African unity: “We are all extremely proud to be African, and in every corner of this vast and magnificent continent, we share the same ambition—to actively contribute to Africa’s development and influence.”
The RAM CEO concluded by inviting everyone to upcoming CAF calendar events: “We’ll see you very soon for the great moments ahead in the CAF calendar, particularly the Women’s AFCON starting in July and, of course, the men’s AFCON, which kicks off on December 25.”
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The presidents of the regional councils concerned by the hosting of the matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (Morocco-2025) unanimously affirmed that the implementation of infrastructure projects in anticipation of this continental event “is progressing at a sustained pace”, declaring themselves “fully mobilized” to crown with success the major sporting events scheduled in the Kingdom.
They specified, in statements to the press in Rabat following a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior devoted to the assessment of the progress of the construction and rehabilitation works of the stadiums, that major sports infrastructure projects are underway in the six host cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Fez, Marrakech and Agadir.
The President of the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council, Abdellatif Maâzouz, announced that the projects planned for upcoming international sporting events, in particular the 2025 African Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, “are proceeding under good conditions.”
The projects related to the organisation of the AFCON will be ready by next July at the latest, he assured, specifying that there is a clear vision regarding the preparations underway for the AFCON and the 2030 World Cup, both in terms of equipment and organisational arrangements related to human resources and animation.
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