Over the years, the playground was neglected. Eventually it was overgrown with weeds and become a garbage dump which caused the area to flooded and swampy.
A visit to the new Maracana Sports centre recently showed that the foundation has completed eight medium and ten mini Astro turf football pitches. Apart for these football pitches, Nathaniel Idowu Foundation went ahead to construct an international standard football pitch which will be commissioned later in the year.
The football pitches can accommodate many 7 aside football matches. This is the first time Lagos would have 19 football pitches side by side at the same location.
A member of Nathaniel Idowu Foundation, Adedotun Coker in an exclusive interview with our correspondent confirmed that the foundation is planning big for football development in Lagos saying that arrangements have been concluded to put the facilities on test by organizing one day event scheduled to hold on 7, May, 2022.
“The arena is almost completed in the sense that once we complete the standard pitch, it is then we can say we are through with the facilities. Presently all the 7 aside pitches are ready for use. There is a well research thought process and the foundation deemed it fit to turn Maracana Stadium to world class sporting arena,” he said.
Coker said the facilities are open for use but noted that there are rules and regulations which interested schools, football teams, individuals or football organisers must follow before granting them for usage and all bookings will be online and visits by appointment under the ‘Cana Sports’ Brand name.
“These facilities are meant for the Ajegunle, its environs and Lagos at large. We built these facilities to aid the football development so it is open for use but any person, organizer, school or football teams that want to use our facilities must follow the laid down rules, “said Coker who commended Nathaniel Foundation for the job well done.
Commenting on the one day football event that would hold on 7, May, Coker said they are expecting 128 teams as well as hosting a south western U-13 football tournament.
“These facilities would put to test on May 7 before commission the arena soonest. We are looking at 128 teams including two teams each from southwest states. The essence of this a day football event is to put the facilities on test so that we can identify areas we should work on before the day of commissioning.
“The one day event is about fun and entertaining. It is not a competition where winner must emerge at all cost but we want to put our kids on pressure game or play intensity football. They can play it because they are full of energy and most of them have power, endurance to play pressure game. These are the things we want to see and we should not forget the fact that the facilities would be used too so that we can know the areas we need to work on the pitches before commissioning,” he said.
Commenting on the security measures, Coker said the security of the new refurbished Maracana centre is superb. He explained further that there are three gates that linking the arena and the number of security men on ground are enough to forestall any possible security breach before, during or after the event.
Coker also revealed that foundation is working round the clock to install CCTV cameras around the sporting arena as part of security measures to checkmate unprofessional conduct during or after the game.
The newly refurbished Maracana Centre has hostels, media centre, conference room, many changing rooms, indoor sports hall and clinic centre.
Meanwhile Nathaniel Idowu Foundation headed by Yemi Idowu is the largest funder and donor to the World Health Organisation’s recognised primary healthcare initiative in Oyo state.
In sports, he is a well-known administrator per excellence. His father, Nathaniel Idowu was one of the founders of the Nigeria professional league, now called the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Yemi conceptualized and established the Nathaniel Boys Football Club where the likes of Leicester City F.C. midfield maestro, Wilfred Ndidi who played for Genk in the Belgian Pro League started his career. Nat Boys F.C., as the club was popularly called were multiple champions of Lagos Junior Football (Soccer) League in the early years.
As Chairman of Nathaniel Boys, he was a pioneer director of the J League. He is a member of Nigerian Football Federation Youth Committee and the influential NFF Reform Committee.
Before that Yemi was appointed Chairman of the Nigerian Academicals Sports Committee (NASCOM) in November 2012.
In his capacity as Chairman of the board of NASCOM, Mr. Idowu was instrumental in initiating the Rhythm N’ Play campaign – a grassroot sports mobilization campaign targeted at bringing an additional 2 million Nigeria school children into sports within a two-year period.
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan launched the campaign in Abuja on 6 June 2013.It’s not a surprise however that through his father’s foundation, Nathaniel Idowu Foundation, he has helped transformed the much loved ‘Maracana’ into a world class edifice.
Ajegunle has a history of grooming stars such as Daddy Showkey, African China and Solid Star who rose from the streets of Ajegunle to the stardom, not forgetting football greats such as Odion Ighalo and Taribo West who played on the original Maracana playground in Ajegunle before they hit limelight.
