Cross River State Govt. Builds 6,000 Capacity Stadiums in Ikom and Ogoja

by crossriverwatch admin

In line with its policy to develop young athletes right from secondary school and promote sports activities especially at the grass roots, the Cross River State Government is building two stadiums in Ikom and Ogoja Local Government Areas of the State.

Briefing members of the National Good Governance Tour on Monday in Ikom, the Commissioner for Special Projects, Cross River State, Mr. Bassey Oqua said the stadiums were Legacy projects being implemented under the State’s Comprehensive Sports Development programme to bring sports activities closer to the people.

He said when completed, the stadiums would each accommodate 6,000 people. Oqua said each of the Stadiums has 2 basketball courts and swimming pools in addition to tennis courts.

The Commissioner pointed out that with the new stadiums, sports men and women would not need to travel all the way to the Capital, Calabar to find such facilities. He further disclosed that it was the plan of the State
Government to have such standard facilities close to secondary school students.

He told the team that CCECC was handling both projects at the cost of 2.2 billion naira and the stadiums should be completed in November, further informing that the contract was awarded in December 2011.

In the same vein, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Mike Aniah said the State Government’s sports policy is to catch athletes young from school and develop them to represent the state at national competitions pointing out that the state doesn’t hire athletes to represent it.

He said the reason for locating one of the Stadiums in Ikom was that the Local Government was central to all other Local Government Areas in the State.