Renaming Abuja National Stadium after Moshood Abiola a noble decision - Rafiu Oladipo

President Buhari had on Wednesday announced the change of the name of Abuja National Stadium to Moshood Abiola National Stadium, in honour of the acclaimed winner of the 1993 General Elections.

Rafiu Oladipo, the President-General of Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC), on Wednesday in Lagos hailed the renaming of Abuja National Stadium as Moshood Abiola National Stadium by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Oladipo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that President Buhari’s pronouncement at the Democracy Day celebration at the Eagle Square in Abuja was a very noble decision.

He said the late Moshood Abiola contributed meaningfully to Nigeria’s sports development, particularly in the football sector, and really deserved the national recognition and honour by President Buhari.

President Buhari had on Wednesday announced the change of the name of Abuja National Stadium to Moshood Abiola National Stadium, in honour of the acclaimed winner of the 1993 General Elections.

“President Buhari has taken a noble decision today by renaming the Abuja National Stadium after the late M.K.O. Abiola, and this has made this year’s Democracy Day significant and I am impressed with the development.

“M.K.O. Abiola did so much for sports development in Nigeria. He was a key supporter of NFSC in our activities and he gave us a bus which made our movements easy,” Oladipo said.

The NFSC President-General said he would help to publicise the pronouncement of the renaming across the world, adding that the late M.K.O. Abiola merited the recognition by President Buhari.

“The renaming of Abuja National Stadium after the late M.K.O. Abiola was indeed a well deserved honour and a commendable resolution in the right direction by President Buhari. 

“I am going to take this news round the world because the late M.K.O. Abiola in 1982 won the Sports Ambassador award in Senegal, and I was there to witness it,” he said.

NAN reports that MKO Abiola who died on July 7 in 1998 was on June 6 in 2018 awarded posthumously the national honor of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) by President Buhari.