President of the Confederation of African Cycling (CAC), Mohammed Wagih Azzam, has lauded Nigeria for finally putting the Velodrome Complex to use after 16 years of inactivity.

History will be made today (Friday) as the state-of -the -art cycling arena located inside the Moshood Abiola Stadium will for the first time since its construction 16 years ago, play host to the maiden Africa Track Cycling Championship, aka African Cup.

An excited Azzam said that with the facility, track Cycling has come stay, as he urged Nigeria to take full advantage of the arena and join the global track cycling bug.

The Egyptian said Nigeria has the men and women that can launch her on the global arena, noting that natural strength of the African will always come handy.

He also commended President of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria, Giadomenico Massari, CAC members, Dr Emmanuel Igbinosa and Coach Mohammed Bashiru for their contributions.

Meanwhile, the cycling arena has come to life with the arrival of eight African countries for the maiden Africa Cup, which also serves as preparation for the forthcoming All Africa Games.

Host Nigeria has since been joined by Egypt, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin Republic, Ghana and Burundi. Already the teams have been putting acts together as they familiarize themselves with facilities in the Velodrome.