More than 45 years after he left office, honour has come to Maj. General George Agbazika Innih, second military governor of Kwara State, after the Kwara State Stadium Complex, Ilorin, was on Monday named after him.
Like him, too, Rashidi Yekini, the inimitable striker and first Nigerian to score a goal at the FIFA senior men’s World Cup in the US in 1994, was also remembered after the main bowl of sports facility was named after him.
Both men died 2002 and 2012, respectively.
The naming came after Governor Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq, on Monday, approved the naming of some old and new legacy projects in the state after historic figures and leaders.
Apart from these two, First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu got a mention as the multibillion naira Civil Service Clinic project is named after her.
The old clinic is now being reconstructed from scratch to emerge as a multistory health facility.
Senator Tinubu will perform the groundbreaking ceremony of the huge project as part of her official visit to Kwara State between January 28 and 30, 2025.
Along with the ICT Centre built under the Renewed Hope Initiative of her office at the Kwara State University of Education, the wife of the President will also inaugurate a few legacy projects of the Governor such as the Unity Flyover, ultramodern Intensive Care Unit, Executive Ward, and Gen. Tunde Idiagbon Flyover — earlier named after the late disciplinarian leader.
The road leading to the flyover is now to be called the Tafawa Balewa Road, a gesture in honour of Nigeria’s former Prime Minister, who was killed in the January 1966 military coup.
The Governor has meanwhile approved for the ICT Centre to be named after former Minister Amina Ndalolo, a jewel of Kwara North, while the executive ward at the Kwara State Teaching Hospital is named after the late prominent physician and politician Dr. Amuda Aluko.
The first state secretariat is now to be called the Brigadier General David Bamigboye Secretariat in honour of the first military administrator of the old Kwara State, while the new secretariat is named after Rear Admiral Muhammed Alabi Lawal who governed the state between 1999 and 2003.
Governor Abdulrazaq, similarly, approved for some other important state facilities to be named as follows: Table Tennis Arena is named after Atanda Musa (Manza Musa), who was a national champion in the games in 1979; Indoor Sports Hall is named after Gabriel Babatunde Ladipo, the first black principal of the Government Technical Training School Ilorin (GTTS) who was regarded as the father of sports in the state; KFA Academy is named after Coach Usuman Adenuja, the first football coach who took the Kwara Academicals to the final of Academical football competition. The Governor was among his products.
Hostel A of the stadium is named after Salihu Ishola, the first Kwaran commonwealth games’ medalist; Hostel B is named after Paralympic badminton bronze medalist Bolaji Eniola; and Hostel C is named after Bola Esan, the first female director of sports.
