Sports Infrastructure: A sad tale of abandoned Liberty Stadium Ibadan, left to rot

Posted : 04 May 2023

Liberty Stadium, in its prime, stands as one of Africa's prides when it comes to sports infrastructure. The 25,000-capacity Liberty Stadium, stationed in the heart of Ibadan, reputedly one of the biggest cities in Africa, is arguably the oldest modern stadium in Nigeria, built in 1960, and was so named "Liberty," which represents freedom.

Liberty Stadium was built by the then Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to commemorate Nigeria's independence and was magnificently constructed to taste with state-of-the-art facilities such as the State Box, an underground dressing room (the first in Africa), and a beautifully designed floodlight.

The Liberty Stadium in the heart of Ibadan is one of the few stadiums in Nigeria that has a large expanse of land to seat another structure as big as itself.

Aside from the main bowl, Liberty Stadium also has a standard swimming pool, a handball pitch, a hockey pitch, tennis courts, volleyball courts, and basketball courts.

In the history of sports in Africa, Liberty Stadium in Ibadan hosted the iconic first world boxing title fight in Africa between Dick Tiger, who beat America’s Gene Fullmer to win the world middleweight boxing title in 1962.

The stadium also hosted important international matches such as the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations as one of the host venues, including the semi-final match between North African neighbors Egypt and Algeria.

Liberty Stadium in Ibadan was the venue for the FIFA World Youth Championships in Nigeria in 1999, as the Group C countries played in the main bowl.

The stadium gained its popularity for being the home for sports in the Southwest region, with some football clubs such as Shooting Stars making the ground their fortress during their prime days.

Also famous, Leventis United rivaled Shooting Stars FC at the stadium. One good thing about Liberty Stadium is that it has never lacked spectators whenever matches are being played in it; obviously, this is due to the fact that Ibadan is also ranked among the most populous states in Nigeria.

Liberty Stadium Ibadan assumed new nomenclature when it was renamed Obafemi Awolowo in the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2015. However, over the years, the once pride of the nation and, by extension, Africa, has become a shadow of itself as it has been turned into a home for destitutes, with the premises overgrown with tall grass.

With increasing needs for more sporting infrastructure across the country, the federal government needs to look into ways of rehabilitating the complex and making it functional.

Sports Infrastructure: A sad tale of abandoned Liberty Stadium Ibadan, left to rot

ADD A COMMENT :

Hot Topics