By Clement Nwankpa Jr
A walk round the Owerri Sports Complex this fateful day was so revealing.
The once bubbly complex, housing the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Grasshoppers International Handball Stadium, Gymnasium, indoor sports hall, basketball/volleyball courts, hockey pitch and other sporting facilities was a shadow of its old self. The usual hustle and bustle around the complex was missing.
In the past, the premises was the usual rendezvous for fun seekers, who chose the numerous relaxation spots to hang out. During the day, the place was kept busy by the avalanche of sporting activities with traders, making brisk sales from the heavy movement within the vicinity. And as the sun set, fun seekers drove into the premises to unwind.
All these, however, belong to the past. A recent visit to the complex revealed that most of the older restaurants and relaxation spots were no longer functional. A good number of the shops were locked up.
Movement around the complex was drastically reduced. And the athletes, who, hitherto, saw the place as home, were fewer in number.
Lorine Ejiofor, a restaurant operator within the complex, bemoaned the decline of sporting activities around the complex, which has affected business patronage.
“You can see that most of the regular restaurant owners have closed their businesses here. Business is so slow now. People no longer come to the stadium. Nothing is happening here. Even the sports people (athletes) are nowhere. We are tired. In fact, I will soon leave this place,” she said.
The prayer of Ejiofor and other business operations around this complex is that situations change soon. They are hopeful that the in-coming Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha-led administration will bring good tidings to the complex and by extension, sports in the state.
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She continued; “My brother, look around now; all the facilities are dead. As a former athlete myself, it shocks me to see how bad the facilities are here. I wonder how we got to this level. We don’t have regular sporting activities here. Without these sports men using this place, our businesses won’t move.”
This sums up the poor state of facilities in this complex. A complex that once hosted the National Sports Festival in 1998. Hosting the Games facilitated the presence of most sporting events in the complex. It prides itself as one of the few Sporting Complexes that has most major sports situated in a place.
Imolites will recall with nostalgia how the iconic Grasshoppers handball stadium on completion in 1987, hosted the African Club Championships. The games held at night under floodlight lit the skylines of the state capital.
This state-of-the-art facility which was the best in the country at the time, complemented the status of Grasshoppers handball club as the best female club in the country and the continent.
Grasshoppers were really the pride of Imolites raking in laurels after laurels. In this stadium, they had found a fitting home.
Similarly, Dan Anyiam Stadium which was the home ground of the state’s football club, Heartland (formerly Spartans and Iwuanyanwu Nationale) hosted many noteworthy national and continental matches.
Before now, the arena that hosted the closing ceremony of the NSF in 1998 under floodlight, had functional floodlights, scoreboards, tartan tracks and lush-green turf.
Increased from a 3,000 to 15,000 all-covered facility in the 90s, it was a favourite hunting ground for Heartland.
And the club responded with success winning four league titles, three FA (Aiteo) Cup titles and two appearances in the final of the CAF Champions League.
Those days, the likes of Ejiofor smiled to the banks with sales on Heartland’s match days.
All these belong to the past. The DAS is now in ruins. The turf is only good for horse racing; the tracks peeled off; the seats all gone; roofs blown away and floodlights malfunctioning.
Due to its poor state, the arena no longer meets League Management Company’s standards for hosting matches. Sometimes, Heartland were made to play their home matches away from Imo State but this season, they are playing in Okigwe. So the team have moved away from their ancestral home.
Of course, they are no longer as all-conquering as they were in the past. Gone are the days they won titles and represented Nigeria on the continent. They are now perennial relegation candidates.
Formed in 1976 at the creation of the state, the team was one of only two clubs that had never been relegated from the topflight. They lost that status in 2016 as the state marked her 40th birthday.
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The club bounced back to NPFL in 2017 and were saved from relegation in 2018 after the NFF crisis necessitated the league being declared inconclusive. This term, they have been frolicking with the drop rather than competing for the playoff spots.
Just like the DAS, the Grasshoppers handball stadium has lost its allure. The playing surface is peeled off just as the seats and roofs are gone. It is no longer fit enough to host topflight games. The Grasshoppers still train there and it is also reflected in their performances. They now live in past glory.
The decay spreads to the indoor hall, gymnasium, hockey pitch, basketball and volleyball courts. It is appalling to see the poor state of the facilities the state’s athletes use. Even the environment has been overgrown with weeds.
Consequently, there is a mass exodus of the state’s athletes to states where they are assured of better facilities, remuneration and attention from the state government. All these are lacking in the sporting industry in Imo State at the moment.
TASK BEFORE IHEDIOHA
Unlike outgoing Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha who didn’t prioritise sports, incoming Ihedioha is a sports enthusiast. In one of his routine jogging sessions at the Owerri sports complex, he had bemoaned the state of the facilities while promising to give the complex a facelift and boost the industry’s fortunes.
Considering the numerous hotels in the state capital, an improvement in sporting facilities will attract A-class sporting events and boost sports tourism.
This is evident in Asaba with the completion of Stephen Keshi International Stadium and Uyo with Godswill Akpabio Stadium. These cities arguably have less number of hotels than Owerri but their hospitality industries have been boosted by the various national and international events held in these stadia.
Ihedioha has to revive the Owerri Sports complex making the DAS and GHS worthy of hosting grade A tournaments.
What can be made of the Owerri Township Stadium that has lost its essence under Rochas? That is a turf that has honed many budding talents, including Nwankwo Kanu and Mobi Oparaku, and should be made to serve its purpose as that public facility that opens its doors to whoever desires to use it.
This shouldn’t be restricted to Owerri. There should be widespread grassroots sports facilities development in the three zones to aid the discovery of talents across the state.
There needs to be an enduring sports policy in the state. This will entrench a culture that ensures longer term sports development. This way, success in this sector will not be accidental but a habit.
Ihedioha has his work cut out as the decay in this sector had been gargantuan in the last eight years.
Those businesses around the Owerri Sports complex need to be supported. The likes of Ejiofor need to reexperience those bountiful years when the place was brimming with activities and human traffic.
The athletes need a more conducive atmosphere to train. Those who have left for ‘more illustrious’ states need to be encouraged to return home.
Heartland faithful need their club to be competitive once more and not perennial relegation battlers. They don’t just want their club to return to their official ground, they desire to host the best of the continent once more.
It was at the DAS that the Owerri football faithful first saw George Weah in action for Tonnere Kalala of Yaounde in a Champions League tie in 1988, a game Nationale won 2-0 in the first leg.
Imolites still remember with nostalgia the quarterfinal tie against FAR of Morocco same year at the same venue. A game that Nationale scored a goal in every 10 minutes to lead 4-0 at halftime.
They have seen the conquests recorded by the eras of Ben Iroha, Okechukwu Uche, Friday Elaho, Thompson Oliha, Friday Ekpo, Edward Ansah, Ishaya Jatau, John Benson, Godwin Eke, Mike Obi, Peter Nieketien, Etim Esin, Lawrence Ukaegbu, Sunny Ikwuagwu, Nwankwo Kanu, Mobi Oparaku, Tony Nwigwe at this arena.
The Heartland faithful want to reenact that chant of ‘Owerri wu oke mba’ at this iconic arena.
Similarly, Imo sports enthusiasts desire the Grasshoppers handball stadium to be in good shape and host top class national and continental tournaments as in the past. They crave for the pride of Imo, Grasshoppers, to be all-conquering once again.
Ihedioha’s body language is heartwarming. Close associates attest to his being a sports freak. Long before winning the election, he has regularly kept tabs on the state of Heartland and Grasshoppers.
He was particularly irked to see the team relegated in 2016. He sought to intervene occasionally but felt it will be politically misconstrued. But the fact is that he is a die-hard Heartland supporter from their days as Spartans.
As a governor, he will be the club’s number one cheer leader and will be a regular feature in their home games. This is the type of governor Imo sports faithful crave for.
In his manifesto, he wrote; “Prior to 2011, Imo was a great sporting state with excellent sporting facilities and famous sports men and women. The famed Dan Anyiam and Grasshoppers International stadia are today in a deplorable state of decay. Besides being a huge employer of youths, sports is a wealth creating avenue for families”.
He went on and on and promised to ‘return the state to its lost glory in sports’. With his mantra ‘my word, my bond’, Imolites will pin him down on this.
The good thing is that from his manifesto, he understands the enormity of the task at hand and has a full grasp of all that has been enumerated in this piece.
