30 years after winning Olympic gold, Daniel Amokachi and teammates finally receive promised land from Kaduna governor

• Daniel Amokachi and fellow 1996 Olympic gold medallists Garba Lawal and Emmanuel Babayaro have received plots of land from Kaduna Governor Uba Sani.

• Amokachi said successive governments failed to fulfil promises made to the Atlanta 1996 squad.

• The governor also directed that streets be named after members of the gold-winning squad, while the reconstructed Ahmadu Bello Stadium is expected to be unveiled in November.

Former Super Eagles striker Daniel Amokachi has praised Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani for fulfilling a promise made to members of Nigeria's historic 1996 Atlanta Olympic gold medal-winning squad, a promise he said successive governments had failed to honour for three decades.

Amokachi, alongside fellow gold medallists Garba Lawal and Emmanuel Babayaro, received plots of land from the governor during a visit to inspect the ongoing reconstruction of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna on Tuesday. The governor also directed that streets be named after members of the victorious squad who had not yet been immortalised.

"When we won the Olympics gold medal in 1996, the Federal Government and state governments made several promises to us, but 30 years down the line, most of those promises were never fulfilled," Amokachi said.

"But Governor Uba Sani has fulfilled his own promise. We lack the words to thank him for this kind gesture."

Nigeria's Dream Team, as the squad was known, defeated Argentina 3-2 in the final in Atlanta to claim the country's first and only Olympic football gold medal. The achievement remains one of the proudest moments in Nigerian sporting history.

Despite the magnitude of the triumph, many of the players spent years without the rewards that were pledged to them. Several members of the squad have spoken publicly over the years about unfulfilled promises from both federal and state governments, including housing allocations, cash rewards and national honours that never materialised.

Amokachi himself has been one of the more vocal voices on the matter, noting as recently as 2021 that the players deserved better recognition from the country they represented.

Lawal, who also serves as a former General Manager of Kaduna United, praised the stadium reconstruction project, saying it would restore Kaduna to its place as one of Nigeria's football hubs.

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"The Super Eagles will not have to go to Uyo to train. This one is right here," he said, adding that the facility was expected to be unveiled by November.

The reconstructed Ahmadu Bello Stadium will have a seating capacity of 33,000, surpassing the 31,000-capacity Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, and will feature Nigeria's first FIFA-standard hybrid pitch combining natural grass and synthetic turf.