A tour of the facilities will make one wonder how brilliant the vision of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo who initiated the vision was when he started the building of the first sports stadium in 1958.
Today, the former Liberty Stadium is ageing but the beauty is still visible. The stadium which was designed by J.E.K. Harrison Chartered Architect in consultation with the then Ministry Works and Transport in the old Western Region is now undergoing a major renovation.
The NSC DG according to the zonal coordinator of NSC zone one, Dr Steve Olarinoye was displeased when he recently conducted facilities inspection tour on the stadium, hence ordered total renovation of all major facilities there to meet modern standard.
“Eagles would soon be playing here, the intension of our DG, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye is to return action back to this stadium after the renovations as you can see the tartan track that was last placed here in 1994-95 when we initially have intension of hosting FIFA Under-20 World Cup is now given way to new one.
“The renovation project was started by clearing of our bushy environment as you can see the landscaping exercises going on and by middle of this year, the stadium would be beaming with new look”, Olarinoye noted.
It would be recalled that since the Lekan Salami Stadium was opened by the Oyo State Government in 1988, Liberty Stadium is no longer the home of Oyo State Sports Council and the Ibadan darling team, Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) hence responsible for the underutilization of the stadium.
The stadium has hosted a number of memorable events since it was opened in 1960. The late Dick Tiger once won a boxing title there in 1963 before his death in 1971 while Shooting Stars won African Winners Club Cup and CAF Cup at the stadium.
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