Coach decries state of Lagos National Stadium, wants Acting DG to visit facility

Worried by the deplorable state of the National Stadium, Lagos, a member of the Nigeria Paralympics Committee (NPC), Bolaji Taiwo, has urged the Acting Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Al-Hassan Yakmut, to visit the facility without further delay.
Taiwo, a Para-powerlifting Coach, said in Lagos on Saturday that the stadium had been abandoned while the sporting facilities were in a deplorable state.
“Now that we have an acting DG, I think it will be good for him to come and see things for himself so that he will actually know what is on ground.
“Even if he had been briefed on the challenges, it is still necessary for him to have an idea of what to work on if he is confirmed,’’ he said.
The coach said efforts had been made by users of the facilities to call the attention of the authorities to the state of the stadium and the facilities but to no avail.
“Journalists have come here to interview us several times and even take pictures but nothing has been done about the facility. But when we see Yakmut himself, we will express our feelings to him.
“I have been using the stadium for more than 14 years and I have been training athletes in the weightlifting gymnasium, sincerely we are going through hell training here,’’ Taiwo said.
He believed the visit of Yakmut would help to set an agenda for the incoming administration as from May 29.
“As a former sportsman, we believe he can still do something.’’
President Goodluck Jonathan had on April 15 sacked Gbenga Elegbeleye as the NSC DG and replaced him with Yakmut, one of the most senior officers at the commission.