The Federal Government of Nigeria on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja approved the sum of N2.4bn for the construction of new National Sports Medicine and High-performance Centre at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
The project which is expected to commence this year will be completed and commissioned in 2026. This is contained in a memo submitted by the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare that got the approval of the Council for award of contract for construction to Jamec West Africa Ltd at the cost of N2,400,000,002.50 (Two Billion, Four hundred Million, Fifty thousand, Two Naira and fifty Kobo) only.
The memo made available with the title: “Request For Federal Executive Council Approval To Award Construction of National Sports Medicine And High Performance Centre Package B MKO Abiola National Stadium Abuja” reads in part, “The purpose of this Memo is to seek Council’s approval for the award of Contract for the construction of National Sports Medicine and High Performance Centre, Package “B” MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
It continued, “Council may recall the approval of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2022 National Appropriation Act to construct a National Sports and High Performance Centre at the Package “B” of the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
It added, “This is in realization of the fact that all over the world, leading nations in the field of Sports have embraced the concept of high performance system in sports as a universal approach to optimizing the potentials of their sportsmen and women with a view to ensuring podium performance. Sports Medicine and Science are integral part of this concept particularly owing to the critical roles that Sports Medicine and Science play in optimizing the potential of athletes. Nations have come to realize that talent alone is not enough to ensure success in sports but the need to harness and optimize these potentials in an enabling environment.
The High Performance Centre is a one-stop centre that brings all the technical aspects of sports under one roof, that is, Sports Medicine, Sports Science, Athletes trainers amongst others. The Centre is expected to provide an environment where critical decisions base on objective assessment with regards to athletes trainings and performances will be made.
