Obasanjo commissions Asaba Stadium, endorses Okowa for 2nd term
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sixteen years ago i came here to lay the foundation of this stadium and today i am here to inaugurate it. i hope to come back to see the hostel you have built to train the youths he said1 former president olusegun obasanjo on monday formally inaugurated the stephen keshi stadium in asaba urging deltas gov. ifeanyi okowa to effectively utilise the facility1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that obasanjo who was in the state on a two-day visit also inaugurated other road projects in agbor in the state1 the former president while noting that the stadium might not mean much to the ordinary man said the gains of the project could however not be over-emphasised1 no one can have a sound mind and sound body without exercising. the stadium is a veritable source of money for the state and the people of asaba and environs he said1 obasanjo added that the essence of the structure would be defeated if the state government failed to through it train the young people by catching them young1 the thinking of the people is what are you doing with the stadium and to the ordinary man the importance is not appreciated1 but the importance is in having a sound mind in a sound body. i have always played squash rackets and i have a squash court in my house to keep fit and it is very important that you exercise1 in todays world there is virtually nothing from which you cannot make money. sports tourism will make the economy of the state strong and the people of asaba will grow their economy1 we must not just have the stadium we must utilise the facility to bring up the young ones by catching them young1 you must recruit those that would be trained and build a hostel where they stay to be trained and if you do this the state will develop1 this is even as he endorsed the gov. okowa for a second term in office saying who was a good product to the people of delta1 while commissioning the road project obasanjo also endorsed okowa for second term describing him as a good product1 as an elder statesman whatever i see and heard my mouth will talk about where i come from we are always looking for good things and when we have good things we hold on to it1 when you have good leaders hold on to them this governor ifeanyi okowa from what i have seen and from what i have heard he is a good product and when you have a good product you dont throw it away1 i know that this governor is a good governor i will hold on to him because he has started well and we must give him the opportunity to consolidate on his good works he said1 earlier okowa had said the stadium was at a 20 per cent completion stage when he came into office as governor1 he added that he had then decided to take up the task of completing the project1 now the stadium has hosted an international athletics competition which had in attendance athletes from about 52 african countries in august and it has also hosted the 2018 aiteo cup final match between rangers international fc of enugu and kano pillars fc1 during these events the states economy blossomed as hotels in the state capital were fully booked and other economic activities thrived. but some persons have asked that of what importance is the stadium1 we are ready to host a friendly match between the super eagles and the cranes of uganda on tuesday1 but beyond this the fact is that we are trying to grow our economy and when we hosted the athletics championships and the aiteo cup final economic activities in asaba increased1 now we have gotten the asaba airport runway right and just few days ago a flight took off from the airport to south africa and returned and we plan to concession the airport for effective management as cargo airport by december okowa said1