Governing Bodies

ONIKAN STADIUM RENAMED AFTER 1ST LAGOS GOVERNOR, MOBOLAJI JOHNSON

Published

5 years ago

December 3, 2019

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

The compact waterfront sports stadium in Lagos, Nigeria, the Onikan Arena has been renamed after the first Lagos State Governor, retired Brig. Gen. Mobolaji Johnson who died on October 30.

The renaming was announced on Tuesday by the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during a ‘Day of Honour’ event organised to celebrate the exit of the pioneer governor of the state. Mobolaji Johnson became the Governor of Lagos when it was formerly proclaimed a state on May 27, 1967.

Before then, the city had existed first as a Colony of Lagos under the British and later as a federal territory before 1967.

The area is therefore having its sixth name since it was built in 1936 as the Association Ground. At the beginning in 1936, the site was fenced with raffia mats and had two gates.

One was for the important people while the other gate was for the masses. On April 12, 1952, it was renamed as King George V (KGV) to mark the coronation of England monarch. That was the first change of name for the arena.

The mats gave way to concrete walls while a small place was designated for players and officials. The stadium which was the birthplace of the first national competition, the Governor’s Cup and also the premier home ground for Nigeria’s national team.

At the time, the then Association ground was given a facelift to commensurate the new status it was to enjoy being named after the English monarch. It was later renamed as Lagos City Stadium in October 1963 when Nigeria became a republic.

The last national cup final was played at the arena on October 14, 1972 when Bendel Insurance were held to 2-2 draw by Mighty Jets. The stadium existed as Lagos City Stadium until the Government of Brig. Gen Mobolaji Johnson demolished it on June 7, 1973.

The last match at the Lagos City Stadium was a derby of Stationery Stores and NEPA, which the latter won 2-1. Skipper Okonji of NEPA scored the winning goal and very last one at the old soccer temple.

It took another nine years for the stadium to come back to life when Alhaji Lateef Jakande, the first civilian governor of Lagos State commissioned a rebuilt one on October 2, 1982. Like the demolished old edifice, it was another NEPA versus Stores local derby that featured as the first match.

Again, it was a NEPA player, Depriye Tebowei that scored the first goal in the arena that was renamed from Lagos City Stadium as Onikan Stadium.

That structure was pulled down in 2017 and the rebuilt version, which was initially renamed as Onikan Arena is now the Mobolaji Johnson Arena.

Governing Bodies

Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council

Published

1 hour ago

April 26, 2025

Kunle Solaja

Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.

The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.

Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.

He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.

An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.

He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.

“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”

Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.

“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.

He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.

“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.

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Governing Bodies

Ex-FIFA Council member and Mali football chief released from jail

Published

3 days ago

April 23, 2025

Kunle Solaja

A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.

Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.

He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.

The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.

He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.

Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.

While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.

-Reuters

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Governing Bodies

Nigeria Football Federation denies owing late national captain and coach, Chukwu

Published

2 weeks ago

April 14, 2025

Kunle Solaja

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.

Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.

The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.

Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.

“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.

“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”

Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.

“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”

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