Agege Stadium: A sports centre of delight

When it comes to size, Agege Township Stadium is one of the smallest among the stadia in Nigeria that got the license by CAF to host international matches.

Infact, many would not give Agege stadium a chance to host CAF Grade A matches given the presence of more spacious stadia in Lagos, especially the ones that have been more popular before its emergence.

Lagos as a cosmopolitan city, former federal capital and the present economic capital of Nigeria is blessed with human and resources enough to produce all the country needs in all sectors especially in sports, albeit, in terms of delivery in mandate, the state has yet to disappoint in such task with either in the provision of sports infrastructure or sportsmen and women alike.

Though Lagos is not big in terms of landmass or size owing to the sharing of its space with lagoons and the Atlantic ocean, yet, the state is the largest in terms of population; as no other city in Nigeria can boast of its population density.

Given the cosmopolitan nature of Lagos, and the yoke of its population which according to census estimate put at about 16 million people, Lagos surely deserves more sports infrastructural facilities to complement its over bloating population.

The reason is that provision of good adequate stadium will always help the citizens relax and find some of the most memorable experiences of being sports fans.

Granted, not every game matters and must be a win, but then again, not every game would be a loss either. Stadiums are hubs where sports and friendship are channelled. There is a reason why people like to come together, and that is the social bond enjoyed in a stadium.

There is hardly any sport that one can imagine in this present that is not played at a stadium or a dedicated space. 

Football is naturally the first option that comes to mind, and for a good reason, too, the game unites thousands of fans. Some of the stadiums in Lagos have attracted more than 45,000 spectators to watch some of the most spectacular football games out there especially FIFA organised matches such as World Cup qualifiers and African Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosted by Nigeria in 1980 and another co-hosted in the year 2000.

And yet, Agege Township Stadium is the only one of the mini stadiums in Lagos considered to be reckoned with before year 2015 when MFM FC came to the limelight of Nigerian football space with blistering results.

The facilities in the Agege stadium are not just about pure capacity because of the small size; they are about engineering prowess, breadth and the desire to try and outdo the bigger stadia in Lagos.

Though not a new stadium and significantly may not necessary rank among the big sporting events centre, Agege Stadium comes with its own vibes and later became a sports centre to cherish.

Clearly, Lagos can boast of some iconic sports infrastructure such as National Stadium, which had since been abandoned, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Onikan Stadium and other mini stadiums like Campos mini stadium and of course Agege Stadium. 

Agege Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Lagos, Nigeria with a sitting capacity of 4,000 spectators, the capacity of the stadium can only fetch it as status in the rank of a mini stadium.

Naturally, Agege Township Stadium as a sport facility is not too impressive in size and it could only accommodate around 4,000 people across two individual covered seats and two open terraces, yet it is a stadium with alluring comfort.

Agege Township Stadium has become a significant part of sports culture in Lagos. It has seen its fortune rise in the latter years as a meeting hub where fans come together to rejoice to see NPFL matches depending on who is playing.

Agege Township Stadium as a multipurpose center due to its size has also helped considerably to save money on operational costs by reducing energy consumption, staffing and maintenance costs. 

Agege gained both notoriety and popularity starting from the year 2015, when it was named as the home ground of MFM FC after which the stadium began to experience influx of other international matches such as Nigeria women's national under 17 football team, DreamStar FC Ladies, Super Falconet, CAF Champions league matches among others.

After MFM gained promotion to the NPFL in 2015, the club decided to stick and chose to play their home matches at the relatively small sized Agege Stadium in spite of availability of other spacious stadiums such as Teslim Balogun Stadium, Mobolaji Arena among other.

Before now, MFM were billed to play their home matches at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, but fate retained them at a more compact stadium which would be easier to manage.

The singular action of MFM FC brought the spark of league actions to Agege Stadium, particularly for Lagos fans, who have been denied the pleasure of watching premier league football actions after the big clubs that had once set the stadium on fire with football artistry such as NEPA FC, Stationary Stores, Ikorodu United and Julius Berger FC, went into extinction.

MFM FC in turn brought back the glorious years of football artistry into Agege Stadium with few night matches in the NPFL and also the people were able to watch the team play CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup preliminary games.

Agege Township Stadium got the attention of the state and the stadium began to experience gradual upliftment especially in 2018 when the government decided to give the stadium an international touch.

The reason for the upliftment was because of the engagement of Lagos-based MFM who had qualified to play in the continental football.

At the end of 2017/2018 league season, MFM FC came second position, in fact, the Church Boys could have won the league in that same year, but missed league title just at the very last day.

Without mincing words MFM FC can the regarded as the architect to the birth of modern Agege Stadium. Throughout the time MFM FC stayed in the league the team enjoyed maximum patronages as spectators do troop into the stadium to watch the team play.

The climax of sporting activities came when MFM FC qualified to play in CAF Champions league, infact Agege became a hot seat for visiting clubs.

In obvious need to provide a stadium worthy of CAF approval for its matches, Lagos State government came to the rescue of MFM FC by upgrading Agege Stadium to the status recommended by CAF.

A new media tribune was built with free wi-fi, brand new dressing rooms for the home and away team was also made. The stadium also welcomes a new state box while the Astro turf was replaced to meet the CAF inspection team standard.

About meeting the standard, the Special Adviser on Sports to the Lagos State Governor, Deji Tinubu, had promised that the Agege Stadium will meet the Confederation of Africa Football’s deadline for MFM’s Champions League games.

In lieu of this promise, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had ordered immediate renovation of the stadium for MFM’s continental engagement. CAF Champions League matches will be played in Lagos for the first time in 16 years.

Ambode also donated N25m to MFM players and officials and another N25m to prepare for the continental campaign.

CAF then came to Lagos for preliminary inspection of the stadium to ascertain its readiness for MFM’s matches, and Tinubu, who inspected renovation works at the Agege Stadium said the state would beat the deadline for the completion of work.

While CAF Champions League started in mid-February, the state government made concerted effort, while significant progress was made just in the space of two weeks. 

By the second week of January, the contractor handling the project had already put finishing touches to the facilities. 

After the completion, the governor was invited to take a look at the facilities to know if there were other necessities.

Tinubu added that the state would fully utilise the facilities at the stadium, adding that the new-look arena would also improve the economic activities in the Agege area of Lagos State.

After the upgrade, Agege Township Stadium joined the ranks of CAF standard stadiums, where teams from Africa can now come and play.

More than this, Agege Township Stadium gave much economic benefits as the activities around it also improved lives of those living around there, mainly not only for MFM FC’s use alone, the state government also plan to bring other Grade A matches to the stadium.

Seeing the upgrade of Agege Township Stadium, players and fans of Nigeria Professional Football League side MFM FC expressed delight after the League Management Company granted provisional approval for the use of Agege Stadium for their home games in the 2020/21 season.

In a letter signed by the Chief Operation Officer of the LMC, Salihu Abubakar, dated December 23, the league body granted provisional approval to seven stadiums which had hitherto been disapproved after maintenance works were carried out.

The other stadiums are: Ifeanyi Ubah Stadium, Nnewi; Akure Township Stadium, Lafia Township Stadium, New Jos Stadium, Ozoro Poly Stadium and Dan Anyiam Stadium Owerri.

Seeing the standard put up by management of Agege Stadium, the management of the Nigeria Women’s Football League also opted to play the 2018/19 Nigeria Women Premier League Super 4 tournament which was held from October 29 to November 3 at the Agege Township Stadium and the stadium did not disappoint.

Agege Stadium has one advantage which revolves around its compactibility, the stadium is easy to manage, while the facilities are easy enough to manage.

Ordinarily, CAF inspection teams hardly give approval to mini stadiums to host its Grade B matches, yet, Agege Township Stadium given its level of top class facilities, scaled the hurdles.

Seeing that Agege Township Stadium has become the hub of football activities, the Lagos State government once again decided to give the stadium further facelift and now the sports centre is undergoing rehabilitation, sport fans and commentators are now waiting to see yet another world class mini stadium birth to the delight of increasing Lagos fans and the benefits of the country.