OVER a year after the demolition of shops and illegal structures inside the National Stadium, Lagos, several traders are still battling the economic crunch after being forced out of the arena, while the decaying edifice is yet to be fully renovated, reports KELVIN EKERETE

Udo Egwim’s store inside the National Stadium, Lagos was named ‘American Dream Sports Shop’, but what is now left of his once thriving sports equipment and kits business are usually displayed on an old table outside the National Stadium, Lagos, for anyone who cared to take a look.

On December 10, around 9am, just outside the stadium gate, a tired-looking Egwim exhibited what was left of his once bubbling shop on his table: a few balls, football boots, boxing gloves, training cones, deep heat sprays, tennis balls, and rackets, as well as skipping ropes.

Suddenly, a hoodlum, popularly known as Area Boy, appears from nowhere and with a hand stretched out, angrily asks for money for the ‘space’ allocated to him, which he failed to pay the previous day.

“My Oga (master) asked me to collect yesterday’s money from you,” the Area Boy demanded.

“Calm down, tell him I will give him the money today,” Egwim replied.

Egwim is one of hundreds of business owners affected by the stadium renovation exercise of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), which took place in August 2020, and left many of the shop owners, who had been at the arena for decades, in misery with no means of survival in sight.

On August 17, 2020, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development gave occupants of the stadium a seven-day notice, which read in part, “You are hereby given seven days notice to quit and deliver up vacant possession on or before August 24, 2020, failure of which we will take further necessary legal steps to eject you. Take further notice that you are to pay all arrears of rent owed before you vacate the complex.”

However, after a public outcry and pleas by the shop owners, the ministry gave the occupants an additional seven-day extension, which expired September 1, 2020.

But the government’s demolition exercise came at a cost, as occupants of structures in the arena, which were not in the stadium’s initial plan, were forced to vacate their buildings.

Ever since, majority of those ejected had been virtually living from hand to mouth.

For Egwim, life could not have been harder.

“It’s not easy losing shops at such a time and the worst part is that it happened just after the lockdown, when there was no money. Since then, we are still struggling to make ends meet. It’s been difficult for everyone of us who lost their means of livelihood.

“Honestly, only the grace of God has kept me alive. I lost so many things. The rains destroyed my goods during the lockdown. I’m out here (to display my goods) because I’m not lazy,” he said.

Chukwugozie Davis, owner of Davis Sports Shop, had three shops and a store all destroyed during the demolition exercise.

He currently displays what is left of his wares on his Toyota Corolla car under the bridge of the stadium.

Every day, he gives tips to physically challenged people to help him ‘protect’ his business under the overhead bridge in front of the stadium from Area Boys.

In a chat with our correspondent, Davis recounted the plight of ejected occupants of the stadium, saying some had died from the trauma of seeing their businesses go down the drain.

“Things have been difficult for a lot of us since our shops inside the stadium were destroyed. Many of the affected traders died from high blood pressure because of the thought of losing their means of livelihood. I personally know three of the deceased. Hope is the only thing keeping most of us alive,” a sad-looking Davis told our correspondent.

The stadium was closed for five months, following the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, but the traders and vendors inside the stadium, according to Davis, were not given enough time to properly quit the arena by the authorities.

“Immediately after the lockdown, they did not allow us any breathing space; they gave us just two weeks to vacate the stadium. People were just returning from the lockdown, which lasted almost six months,” Davis stated.

“During the lockdown, we were at home like millions of other Nigerians who didn’t do anything. After the lockdown, they called us to a meeting to talk about the reopening of the stadium. But the moment we got in, we were served a quit notice, that was all,” he added.

Like Davis, hundreds of shop owners inside the stadium are struggling to find their feet after the demolition.

Findings by our correspondent showed that one of the traders, who once owned a shop where she sold provisions at the stadium, developed a mental illness and was, sometimes, found under the bridge at Ojuelegba, a two-minute drive from where her shop used to be.

Davis said he had to hawk his goods on the street to keep his four children in school and provide for their needs.

According to him, a lot of the traders inside the arena returned from the lockdown to meet some of their goods spoilt and expired and had to dispose them off.

While trying to cushion the effect of the loss, which Davis said ran into millions, the demolition notice was served the traders.

“So, I can’t just stay at home and dwell on the millions I’ve lost. We know they are the government and they have the right to send us away but all we needed was more time to properly prepare ourselves and get another place to keep my goods. It’s been very difficult but all I know is I can’t kill myself over it,” he said.

Ibrahim Adebayo, a trader and the owner of Skate Store, who had spent 12 years in the stadium complex, where he sold sports bicycles, corroborated Davis’ claim.

Adebayo stated that goods worth millions of naira were destroyed when the stadium was reopened after the lockdown.

“By the time we returned from the lockdown, goods worth millions had been destroyed because we couldn’t move and clean them for months,” he said.

“I had two shops and one store. When the minister told us to leave, we thought it was a joke until we saw bulldozers. They gave us a week to move and that if we didn’t, our shops would be destroyed along with our goods, so, we moved our goods. We came back to stay in front of the stadiums, but we were chased away by the security agents. We’ve lost most of our customers because most of the ministry,” Adebayo added.

The stadium, built in 1972 by the military regime of Gen Yakubu Gowon (retd.) had been left in ruins since the early 2000s, and last hosted a national team game in 2004, with football matches moved to the nearby Teslim Balogun Stadium.

With its decay, it was severally converted to venue for religious gatherings, wedding ceremonies, political campaigns, parties and musical concerts, while Area Boys and illegal squatters had a field day at the national edifice, virtually turning it to their home.

However, in a bid to revive decaying sports arenas nationwide, sports minister, Sunday Dare, immediately after he was appointed in 2019, got billionaire businessmen Kessington Adebutu and Aliko Dangote to renovate the Lagos stadium and the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

“For 18 years, we have seen the Lagos stadium being used for purposes other than sports. We have started a new regime of trying to develop our sports infrastructures, a new initiative around sports. This facility is an iconic monument for sports development,” Dare said.

“It is a sports complex, any other purposes for which it is being used will not be acceptable, it is not a market and not a beer palour. What we have done is to return it to its original blueprint and prepare it for concession. The concession is on its last stage because we have been receiving bids.”

Contrary to the ministry’s claim that the shops were illegal, some of the traders argued that the land was allocated to them from Abuja to build the shops.

Isaac Nwokemodo, who had been trading in the arena for 15 years, said, “The lands were allocated to us by the government and most of us have letters from Abuja. So, are the shops illegal?”

Some of the traders alleged that they were made to pay their one-year rent upfront but were ejected immediately after doing that, while their money had not been refunded.

They claimed that the stadium manager Kehinde Owopetu called traders for a meeting after the lockdown, where he asked shop owners to pay upfront a year’s rent, while those who were indebted were asked to settle their debts and also pay ahead.

“I’ve had a shop at the stadium for over 15 years, so it was a huge shock when we were asked to leave. Even if you’re chasing us out, you could have given us time to resettle but they just sent us packing after paying one-year rent upfront,” Nwokemodo added.

“They called us to come and pay the rent upfront, so, we don’t lose our shops. They also told those owing to pay up while they asked those with certificates of land allocation to stand in front of the allocated spot while they took their pictures. Everyone paid. Some people even went to the bank to borrow money to pay for the shops, only for them to get a notice a week later. My rent was over a million naira.

“I have five children and two of them are in university. I worked hard to pay my house rent and that of the stadium as well as my other office in Festac but now, I can’t afford to renew my rent, where I live I have been given quit notice because I can’t pay the rent. Apart from those of us that owned shops, we provided jobs for over 500 people who have either become criminals or prostitutes now after losing their jobs.”

When our correspondent reached out to the stadium manager, Kehinde Owopetu, over the traders allegations that they were ejected after paying a year’s rent to the ministry, he declined comments on the issue.

“As a civil servant, I’m not permitted to speak to the media if I’m not authorised by our directors or permanent secretary,” Owopetu said.

When our correspondent probed further about the approval of lands for the traders, Owopetu added, “I don’t know anything about it. Honestly, I don’t.”

When our correspondent visited the stadium recently, over one year after the demolition of sections of the edifice, nothing had been done to give the stadium a facelift as the arena had continued to deteriorate due to the absence of activities.

Despite promises in December 2020 that the pitch would be ready in May, work was yet to be concluded at the main bowl, while some other parts of the stadium were unattended to.

“It is said that people were sent out of this stadium after they (ministry) said they wanted it refurbished, only for it to still be like this after over a year,” Yemisi Adetunji, who used to work at the stadium, told our correspondent.

“If they knew they couldn’t fix the stadium, why did they send people away? The place is worse than it used to be; at least, the traders used to clean the place. Now, it’s in a mess,” she added.

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