Mr Akilu Sayibu, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), commended plans by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to rename the Tamale Sports Stadium in memory of the late Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, announced late last month that the Tamale Sports Stadium would be renamed the “Alhaji Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium”, in honour of the late Vice President of the Republic and in fulfillment of a campaign pledge made in the run up to the December 2016 elections.

Commending the president for such a move, Mr Sayibu stated that the gesture by the president if implemented would not only portray President Nana Addo as a man of his words, but also keep the memory of the late Aliu Mahama alive not only in Northern Ghana but also within the sporting circle for his immense contributions to its development.

According to the GEPA deputy CEO, the late Aliu Mahama who is a founding member of former Ghana Premier League (GPL) side, Real Tamale United (RTU), was a sports enthusiast and also supported a lot of budding sports personalities in the region in various ways until his death on November 16, 2012.

“The late Veep was instrumental in the citing of the edifice in Tamale. He advocated strongly for its citing in Tamale and I think that naming it after him is one of the many things that can be done in his memory,” he said.

The renaming ceremony of the Tamale Stadium forms part of various activities that are underway to mark the 5th Anniversary of the death of the late Aliu Mahama.

The President, Nana Akufo Addo, is expected to perform the re-naming of the Tamale Sports Stadium as the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium at a ceremony in Tamale on Sunday, December 10.

Mr Sayibu added that many Ghanaians of Northern extraction and beyond are particularly happy about this idea and hope that it will inspire many from the North to strive to become like the Late Vice President who cherished discipline, truthfulness and honesty in all his endeavours.