Africa’s richest man and the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has committed a whopping sum of $1 million to the renovation of Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
This was contained in a statement by the media office of the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the Minister thanked Dangote for responding to the call to restore the edifice.
After months of “discussions, planning and processing, that promise has come to fulfillment today with the kick-off of the project… the football pitch will be getting the long overdue face- lift it deserves.”
Dare commended Alhaji Dangote and his group for believing in the vision of the Ministry by agreeing to partner with it to restore the fading glory of the edifice.
The Minister further asserted: “This landmark event reinforces my faith in the public-private sector partnership in line with Government’s efforts at delivering on our mandate. Government alone cannot fund sports and maintain facilities we need more private corporations to take a cue from what Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Adebutu Kessington have done in supporting our drive to renovate and maintain our facilities for use by our athletes and to play host to international events.”
While urging Messrs. Aron Nigeria Limited, the Contractor, to move with the speed of light, Dare said government had imbibed a proper maintenance culture to guarantee that the huge sum spent on these projects are not wasted.
The rehabilitation will be done with 24 weeks.