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Access Bank Lagos City Marathon: Muazu, Kefas vows to end dominance of East Africans
Two of Nigeria’s top elite road race runners Adamu Muazu and Williams Kefas have assured it would no longer be business as usual for the East Africans; especially Kenyans at this year’s Access Bank Lagos City Marathon.
Unlike in the women’s category where a Nigerian has actually broken into the ranks to finish among the top 10, the men have watched helplessly as the Kenyans and Ethiopians cart away the dollars reserved for the fastest runners.
Iliya Pam in 2019 came the closest in breaking into the top 10 but his winning time of 2:32:24 in the Nigeria category was only good for 15th position overall.
Ahead of the 2021 edition of the Lagos Marathon, there have been fewer competitions for the runners due to the coronavirus pandemic, and while this might be viewed as a snag, Kefas suggested otherwise as he revealed he has had more training time without burning himself out before the big race in Lagos.
He said: “This marathon, I am very ready to achieve a lot in Lagos. I have been training so hard for it and at the moment, my wife even said she cannot understand me again because all I do now is train, train and train every time. I am looking for my best, I really want to enter the top 10. We want to get a time that will make the AFN see that we the long-distance runners have been training hard.
Muazu is equally fired and while he has tall ambitions for himself, he believes impossible is nothing even as he suggests he and his colleagues are already narrowing the gap with the East Africans.
He said: “We are tired of fighting for the first Nigerian prize, who says we cannot win the main prize? I am going for the medal in Lagos and probably break the national record.
Though Muazu believes much more still needs to be done to make the Nigerian runners be at par with their East African counterparts, he admits they are on the right track running in globally acclaimed races like the Access Bank City Marathon.
The sixth edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon will be taking place on Saturday, April with only 300 elite runners on parade.
News
Musawa Seeks Broader Significance for June 12
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, Esq., says June 12 must be remembered as a sacrifice that gave Nigerians democracy, beyond its status as a public holiday.
In a statement signed on Saturday by the Senior Assistant Media & Publicity to the Honourable Minister,Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Dr Nneka Ikem Anibeze Ph.D in Abuja.
Musawa stated this at the national premiere of “MKO”, a film on Chief Moshood Abiola, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos, to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.
She said 33 years after June 12, 1993, many young Nigerians know it only as a holiday, but the film turns it back into memory.
“For too many young Nigerians, June 12 is simply a public holiday. This film tells them that our democracy did not arrive by chance. It was fought for. It was defended. It was paid for. This documentary is in honour of the heroes of June 12, the men and women who gave their lives for the mandate of June 12, 1993 and for the democracy Nigeria enjoys today,” the Minister said.
Musawa hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Host, for his participation in the June 12 struggle and paying the price in exile, adding that Nigeria’s creative industry will keep telling the story of its democracy with courage.
“Through film and the creative economy, Nigeria will preserve its history. A nation that forgets its past loses its way to the future. Nigeria has a story and our story deserves to be told,” she said.
Earlier, the director of the investigative documentary, Ose Oyamendan, said the film was in honour and memory of heroes who fought for Nigeria’s democracy.
“There was Hope ’93 and now there is Renewed Hope. There was a man who sacrificed his life so we may have democracy and there is a man who almost lost his life fighting for democracy who is now helping build a lasting democracy.
“There was a great man called Bashorun MKO Abiola and there is now another great man called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Democrats. Nationalists. Nation builders. Leaders of men and women. We must never forget our story. We must always honour and remember our heroes,” Oyamendan said.
Top government officials including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the wife of the President Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Chief of Staff to the President Rt. Femi Gbajabiamila, state Governors, members of the National Assembly, Ministers and other distinguished dignitaries attended the premiere.
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