Ogba, Okowa predict Okpekpe International Race will produce Nigerian champions

Two of Nigeria’s biggest athletics administrators, Solomon Ogba and Tonobok Okowa, have predicted that East Africa’s dominance of the Okpekpe 10-Kilometre International Road Race will soon be halted.

At the eighth edition of the competition last Saturday, Ethiopians dominated the men’s and women’s categories with Jasin Hadi (29.05) and Anchinaiu Dessie outrunning their Kenyan challengers to emerge champions. Hadi’s 29.05s time is the third-fastest winning time in the history of the race. He won ahead of the Kenyan duo of Elvis Cheboi (29.20s) and Bereket Nego (29.30s).

For his effort, Hadi went home with the $13,000 top prize money. In the women’s race, Dessie’s 33.09s effort also fetched her $13,000.

For the Nigerians in the race, Ismael Sadjo (31.12s) and Rose Akusho (36.40s) came home first in the male and female cadres respectively.

Following Sadjo’s impressive return time, Ogba and Okowa said Nigerians are beginning to wake up and will, in no distant future, start competing efficiently against the East Africans.

Okowa, who, on Saturday, witnessed his first Okpekpe Road Race as Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) president, said that the locals’ performance is an indication that Nigerians will soon start winning international marathons.

He said: “They have improved on their personal best. The person that came first had 29 seconds, and one of us, Sadjo, ran 30 seconds, which is a huge improvement.

“It means we are very close. He even beat some of the elite athletes. In the past, we didn’t get close to them, but now we are beating some of these East Africans. And I am sure within the next two years, we will have athletes competing favourably against the East Africans.”

Okowa said the AFN has started a programme that would further aid Nigerian athletes’ improvement. He said: “Recently, we put them in a camp in Pankshin and that has improved their performance. With time, they will compete favourably with the Kenyans and Ethiopians.”

To Ogba, a former AFN chairman, recent developments have shown that Nigerians can compete favourably if given the right support.

He said: “Nigeria is getting close to the East Africans. If you watched those Nigerians, they are all from the Jos area and they can even do better if they stop running in every race. You cannot run every race. You must give yourself time to recover from the stress of a marathon. You cannot run every month and expect to be at your best.”

Although Ogba acknowledged that most Nigerian athletes are their families’ breadwinners and therefore, need to run to earn their living, he said they will be better served if they pick their competitions.

“If they plan their programmes well and do things right, they will win even bigger money than when they run every month. This is what the East Africans do and they win the big money races.”

Ogba also acknowledged the growth of Okpekpe Road, which was begun when he was AFN president.

“I started the race and I can tell you that because of this race, Mike Itemuagbor, the organiser, is the most popular indigene of this community.

“The race has brought riches and fame to the community and they are grateful for that. Itemuagbor has put his community on the world map. It is the only race being run today in the whole world and the whole world is watching the events happening her. I am sure that more than 100 million people are watching the race.”