Benue State governor, Hyacinth Alia, has expressed satisfaction with the speed and quality of the renovation work done at the Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi, the state capital, by the contractor, Monimichelle Sports Facility Construction Limited.
Alia gave the commendation after inspecting the ongoing rehabilitation of the Stadium on Tuesday in Makurdi, expressing confidence that the contractor would deliver the job on time.
He assured his administration commitment to give football adequate attention, noting that it is a unifying factor and has the potential of bringing people together regardless of their various differences.
He also noted that football has huge economic benefits if properly harnessed. “Football is a treasure, and where your treasure is, your heart will be. Football is my treasure.
“Benue has the DNA for football. It has produced great footballers who are scattered across various teams in and outside Nigeria,” Alia said.
The president of Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, also urged the contractor to renovate the stadium to meet international standards so that international competitions could be hosted at the Stadium.
Gusau said he was very impressed with the quality of work done so far at the stadium and advised the state government to revive the governor’s cup in order to harness young talents.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Monimichelle Sports Facility Construction Limited, Ebi Egbe, pledged that he would not compromise standards, assuring that he was renovating the stadium to meet international standards.
Egbe said that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was very serious with field test certification, and maintaining the field cost a lot of money.
“If a team fails to maintain its field properly, it will fail the field test and will not be certified. Maintenance of the field is supposed to be done annually,” Egbe said.
He said that he was in Benue for a serious business, stressing that he would give it all the attention it desired.
