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The Defacing and destruction the main bowl of the Lagos National Stadium has suffered might visit the prestigious Abuja Stadium, one of the achievements of the  President Obasanjo government. Interestingly, the Obasanjo government that built this edifice is now supervising its gradual destruction.

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On Saturday, Nigeria will play Rwanda in the Under-20 African qualifier for the World Championship.

Abuja Stadium was originally scheduled to host the match. It will not any more. The Presidency would, rather, prefer a religious activity to hold on the main bowl of  the stadium, a development that would surely have its toll on the turf of the stadium that is our only pride with regard to sports facility.

A Christian group will organise a night vigil on Friday during which they are expected to hold a crusade there. And after their use, the place would certainly not be  ready for Saturday’s match. The Presidency then directed the NFA to take the Nigeria-Rwanda match to another venue, preferring a religious activity on the turf of  the stadium to a football game for which the stadium was built. That is the irony that shocked members of the FA who have now decided to take the match to  Abeokuta, Ogun State.

“We just can’t believe it but there’s nothing we can do,” one NFA staff said about the sacking of the national team from the stadium for a night crusade.

“The NFA should be blamed,” a sports ministry director said yesterday.

“They could not make a strong presentation to convince the Presidency on why the football match should hold there or why the religious activity should not be  preferred to a football match that comes up some hours after the religious outing,” the ministry source said

It would be recalled that the National Stadium, Lagos has never been the same since the sports ministry started approving the place for religious activities most of  which are held on the turf with wooden stages and other platforms built on the main bowl.