In football, the grass is everything

Why is it that it is only Uyo, a small, laid back emerging metropolis located in the southernmost part of Nigeria, that has the only stadium facility with FIFA’s approval to host Nigeria’s Grade A international matches?  
It is ridiculously unbelievable, yet it is true. With Nigeria’s records of achievements and football, no other stadium in the country can host the highest levels of football! 

The answer to that question is very simple, too simple to be true. In fact, it is so elementary that, for a country with Nigeria’s reputation as a football-crazy nation, it is shameful. 

The answer is not rocket science. 
It is the grass. The flat, lush, beautiful, well-manicured, green grass on the surface of that magnificent stadium in Uyo that stands out majestically from the rest of the stadia around Nigeria. 

Even the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, the Federal Capital City, the most beautiful and most modern sports complex in the whole of Africa, is ‘dead’ of major activity, even beyond football, because the surface where the big football matches is not good enough. 
Ironically, it is the presence of these big matches, hosted here, that can impact, enliven and transform the entire sports complex into a social hub for all sports followers in Abuja. 

The grass field is that important and that powerful in the football eco-system. The simple fact, most often underrated, is that it is the grass turf that rules. It is everything in football. Nothing else compares, and nothing can be an alternative. It is as simple as that. 

It may not be easy for the ordinary person, ungrounded in football played at the highest levels in personal experience, to fully appreciate it and understand the complex connections that the grass on a