Thousands of spectators on Thursday narrowly escaped death following the collapse of a giant overhead water tank at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Delta State, during the ongoing 21st African Senior Athletics Championships.
The collapsed water tank, which created panic among the athletes and spectators, left vehicles, wall fence and other things damaged while spectators were seen scampering for their lives.
A Delta State government official, who witnessed the incident, blamed the contractors who handled the project, saying everything done in the stadium was hurried and substandard.
“No good can ever come out of this Delta State government,” he said.
“The state government was in so much hurry to host this championship when all necessary things have not been put in place. All the construction done in the stadium were done with substandard materials, including the collapsed water tank.
“Go round the stadium, you will see it was not completed before they commenced the game on Wednesday. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa agreed to host the championships following the financial gains that would go into their private pockets to use for the forthcoming 2019 general election.
“The 2019 elections and the avenue to amass wealth and loot the state treasury is the reason behind all this rush to host the championships and unfortunately a substandard job was carried out. This is another perfect and smooth avenue to loot the treasury by governor Okowa and his men. Governor Okowa had before now stated that he will need N4 billion to host the championships.
“Some information in the public domain, however, suggests that the Governor released the sum of N3.8 billion for the hosting of the game. New cars, including SUVs, were purchased by the local organising committee, which the Governor’s younger brother, Mr Tony Okowa, is the Vice Chairman of. At the end of the game, these cars will be carted away by the governor’s cronies.”
The multi-billion-naira contract for the construction of the stadium, named after late footballer, Stephen Keshi, was awarded to Solomon Ogba, a former President of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and LOC Chairman, but it could not be completed before the kickoff of the championships.
