In a display of the value of public private partnership, Lagos State Government and Coca-Cola Nigeria on Tuesday jointly hosted a ceremony to handover an upgraded sports facility to the Araromi Community in the Gbagada area of the state.
The chief guest of the occasion was Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
The scope of work realised under the project covers; 1000 seating capacity pavilion, equipped with bore hole, water sanitation and hygiene facilities for the public and physically challenged, changing rooms for players and referees, two units of VIP lounge and administrative office; and constructed an 11-aside football pitch (75×45) equipped with flood lights including two sets of dugout for reserved players with 10 man seating capacity each.
Refurbished 150-person seating capacity multipurpose hall, refurbished the generator house and perimeter fence, constructed a parking lot to accommodate 20 cars, gate house and kiosk. The Araromi Community Sports Centre, Gbagada is among the several sports facilities in Lagos that have recently been upgraded by Coca-Cola. At the unveiling of the facility, Managing Director, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Bhupendra Suri disclosed that the renovation of the pitch was part of Coca-Cola’s vision of promoting sustainable communities through social enterprise.
“For more than 50 years now, Coca-Cola has had a strong association with sports and particularly football in Nigeria. We however realised that to further drive Nigeria’s grassroots football and talent development, we needed to partner with the authorities to upgrade selected sports facilities across the country to give our young players access to world class sports facilities in their local communities.†he declared.
While commending Coca-Cola for its pivotal role in developing grassroots sports facilities, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, who represented the governor, remarked that the centre would help to engage the youth in the community meaningfully, as well as empower them to make success of their passion.
According to her, “It will provide a platform for the positive engagement of our youths and the discovery of talented young people who will make career out of their skill, and contribute to the growth of the economyâ€.
