As the countdown begins to the eighth All Africa Games scheduled to start in Abuja on October 4, Nigeria, the host country, is struggling to be ready for the showpiece of African sports, sports analysts said in Abuja on Wednesday.
With only two weeks and three days to go to the continental fiesta, German construction giant Julius Berger is still putting finishing touches to the 60 000-capacity stadium to be used for the games.
The company is also still battling with surrounding infrastructure like roads and sewage.
The chairperson of the organising committee, Amos Adamu, however, said there was no cause for concern.
”In many continental games and intercontinental games of this dimension that we have seen in the past, construction works were going on long after competition had started,” Adamu, who did not give any specific instance, said.
Another cause for worry among sports analysts is the fact that Nigerians still do not know what percentage of their taxes is being used for the games.
The cost of the stadium is believed to be three times that which was budgeted for.
Another area of concern is the velodrome to be used for cycling, which is still not ready.
Adamu said if the cycling event would not be held in the velodrome, the facility would be used for other indoor events such as volleyball, boxing and table tennis.
Early in the week, the organising committee invited tenders from ”suitable contractors” who could renovate military facilities to serve as back-up — seemingly to be used in case that some of the facilities were not ready on time.
Adamu said it was not strange that such last-minute preparations were being made.
”We must make contingency plans to ensure that alternatives were provided if all the facilities are not ready,” one of Adamu’s assistants said, adding: ”It is too late in the day to postpone the games, so we must put in our best to have a successful outing.”
In the area of transportation, there are worries about the level of preparedness of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport in Abuja where the more than 7 000 athletes and officials expected at the fiesta will be arriving in Africa’s most populous nation.
With oil incomes running into billions of dollars annually, Nigeria was initially confident that all facilities would be ready at least three months before the games.
The level of unpreparedness at the games village designed to house athletes and officials is also giving analysts cause for worry.
French construction giant Bouygues is still digging drainage on the site where 690 flats were to have been built, which was designed to have been completed several months ago.
Worrisome for sports analysts also was the indecision surrounding logistics for the sale of tickets.
While the sub-committee on logistics believed tickets should be sold well in advance and at strategic locations across Nigeria, the main organising committee believes it is better to sell tickets at the gates — even though a trial run at an international football friendly ended in police firing tear gas to control the crowd.
However, Adamu, the anchorman for the games, is certain that all facilities would be ready within the next 17 days for African athletes to show their prowess to the rest of the world. — Sapa-DPA