In September 2012, a popular photo journalist, Femi Ipaye visited the National Stadium in Abuja and photo-documented the degeneration of the structures built by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for $300 million. The stadium main arena and facilities had become decrepit and decayed because they had not been maintained.
Abuja stadium taken over by shrubs
Abuja stadium still no grass
National stadium taken over by weed
At the beginning
A few months later, Mr. Ipaye returns to the stadium to document the current state of the pricey sports arena, Nigeria’s biggest and most expensive. Again, he finds the stadium still abandoned but apparently undergoing some renovation and rehabilitation allegedly by construction giant Julius Berger. However, the cost of rehabilitation remains a mystery. Still the arena remains in a state of disrepair and dysfunction.
