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Access Bank Lagos City Marathon provides 2,000 direct employment, says organisers

By Giwa SHILE

The Project Manager, Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Bukola Olopade, on Friday said that the iconic race was already counting its gains with the provision of over 2,000 direct jobs amid other economic values.

Olopade made the assertion at the world news conferece at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja to herald the iconic 42-kilometer race.

He said that the marathon which had a humble beginning was already becoming the toast of runners across the globe.

“I can say that the race that has a humble beginning although we are still humble and remain humble is getting the attention of the world.

“We are grateful for the milestone recorded in this event; we have been able to turn our deficiency to strength by taking note of our previous shortcoming to stage a better event.

“What my previous speaker said about the race is true because the race has become more popular and has the features of entertainment, tourism and sports, more than that, it has generated employment.

“We can say that with the help of our host, the Lagos State Government, this race has in its employ over 2,000 people among other volunteers, so, this means that the race is economically viable,” he said.

Olopade added that the organisers would strive to make the race a silver label, adding that more incentives would be put in place to attract more elite athletes.

“We are going higher in our pursuit at making the race greater, we want to make it a silver label and I think we should get that at the end of the 2019 edition.

“It amazes me that a race that is barely three years old will be competing with old marathons and even compare to them, it is a great achievement, yet we will remain humble with that.

“We are grateful to the sponsors of this event and the host, Lagos State Government for its support, without them we are nothing, the support from the governor is tremendous.

“We are expecting to have another great event come Saturday and I am sure many of the athletes will go home with beautiful experience from Nigeria.

The Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Kweku Tandoh, said that the state government appreciated the importance of sports to its economy; hence it would always give preference.

“The present government, led by Mr Akinwunmi Ambode knows the importance of sports to the economy of the state thereby we are not shy at sponsoring so many sports events.

“We have great competitions under the sponsorships of Lagos State which includes, Squash Classics, ITTF/Lagos Tennis Championships, Asoju Oba Table Tennis and Marathon among others.

“We understand that sports can drive the economy of the state; hence, we will do everything to make sure that our state is viable through sports events like this,” he said.

NAN reports that the winners of the marathon will go home with a whooping 50,000 dollars. while the first runners-up take 40,000 dollars and second runners-up has a 30,000 dollars cash prize.

For the indigenous runners, the winner goes home with N3 million, first runners-up, N2 million, while second runners-up will take N1, Million.

Also for the 10KM race the winner gets a brand new KIA Rio Car, second place gets N1 million and third place with a N750,000.——-NAN

 

 

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