Sports

Access Bank Lagos City Marathon: Elite runners arrive from Kenya, Ethiopia

Published

5 years ago

April 7, 2021

The strong cast of elite runners invited for the 2021 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon are now in town for Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated race.

According to an official statement released by Olukayode Thomas, Head Communication and Media for the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, over 95% of the elite runners have already arrived in Lagos while a few others are scheduled to jet in early Thursday.

Thomas confirmed that the 2019 Women champion, Meseret Dinke and fellow Ethiopians Sechale Dalasa, Motu Megersa and Obse Abdeta have all arrived from their respective bases.

Obse was among the top ten finishers at the last Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon where she posted an impressive time of 2:29:30.

The 21-year old was also present at the 2019 Toray Cup – Shanghai International Marathon where her (2:27:47) finish time was good enough to make it to the podium

Thomas also confirmed the arrival of the Kenyan quartet of Jane Seurey, Winny Jepkorir, Esther Macharia and Salina Jebet who will all be jostling for the thousands of dollars up for grabs in the Lagos race.

Salina was the winner of the 2019 Marathon Eiffage de Dakar, Dakar and was also part of the 2019 International Peace Marathon, Kigali and Asics Firenze Marathon, Firenze in the same year.’

Aside from eyeing the top prize in Lagos the elite women runners will also be gunning to erase Sharon Cherop’s course record of 2:37:52 set the last year 2020.

For the men’s category, Cosmas Kyeva, Jackson Kotut, Evans Kipkosgei Ruto, Julius Tuwei and Emmanuel Naibei all from Kenya are among the early arrivals in Lagos for Saturday’s World Athletics Silver Label Race.

Now in its sixth edition, the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, the biggest one-day event in Africa usually attracts over 100,000 runners but the number has been reduced to just 300 runners for the 2021 edition slated for April 10.

Organisers have however perfected plans to have many others be part of the excitement by participating in its virtual race.

Runners can participate by signing up for the Virtual 10KM on Finerge, all they have to do is download the mobile app on either Google Play or Appstore, register for the Virtual 10km.

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Sports

Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney

Published

8 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.

Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.

In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.

The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.

In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.

At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.

According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.

“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.

Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.

He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.

The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.

He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.

“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.

Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.

The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.

According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.

The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.

It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.

The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.

He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.

“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.

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