In a bid to upgrade sporting facilities in the country as well as enhance performance of the nation’s athletes for maximum podium appearances, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of N2.4bn for the construction of a new National Sports Medicine and High Performance Centre at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja
Sports Minister Sunday Dare disclosed on Wednesday while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja
He said: “FEC approved the construction of the National Sports Medicine and High Performance Centre in Abuja to improve the overall performances of Nigerian athletes. The lack of such facilities has been one of the drawbacks of sports development and athletes performances in the country.”
Dare explained that global sports development practice has High Performance Centre as a major component of conditioning its athletes.
“It takes your athletes beyond just raw talent to some level of sports science and precision and the lack of that scientific input into our sports development over time has not helped us to reach the maximum podium performance that can be attained by our athletes.
“We have seen, particularly in Kenya and South Africa, where we have something close to that and what their performances are,” he said
The minister stated further that unlike other projects in the past, the new High-Performance Centre has an in-built maintenance structure in its lifecycle design.
“As we speak, more than 80% of the equipment that will be needed, some of them digital equipment, are already secured and obtained at Moshood Abiola National Stadium. What we need is to construct the specialised building where we’re going to install all of these.
And if this is done, the number one High Performance Centre in the whole of the African Continent is the one in South Africa and if we’re able to complete the one in Abuja here, that will be the second one in Africa”
According to Dare in a press statement signed by Mohammed Manga, director of press and public relations, Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, the project is expected to be completed in three years time.
