Also with him were Deputy Governor Phillip Shaibu, who completed the race in 86.7 minutes and former governor Adams Oshiomhole, who completed the race after 87.3 minutes of perspiration.
Speaking after the race, Governor Obaseki said he would set up a sport commission backed up by the law to reposition sporting activities in the state.
He said: " The focus is strictly in ensuring that there is development of sports in Edo State. I decided to run for orphanage. We have more than 30 of them in Edo State. Some chose to run for cancer to raise money for the cure, some students of AAU decided to run against cultism."
Foreigners
excelled ahead of Nigerians in the highly contested Okpekpe race which
has been successfully concluded in Edo State, Southern part of Nigeria.
Participants at the Okpekpe race
Ethiopian duo of Luel Gebrasilasis and Azmera Gebru, on Saturday,
emerged winners in the male and female categories, of the 2017 IAAF 10km
Okpekpe bronze label race in Okpekpe, Edo State.
Gebrasilasis coasted home to victory in 29 minutes, 28 seconds,
clinching the top prize of $15,000. He was closely followed by his
fellow compatriot, Dawit Fikadu, who came second at a time of 29
minutes, 34 seconds to receive the $10,000 prize money.
Another Ethiopian, Jemeli Bekeli, touched the finish line in 32 minutes, 22 seconds to win the third prize of $7,000.
The fastest Nigerian in the male category of the race was Plateau
State-born Jigade Monday, who raced to the finish line in 31 minutes, 53
seconds.
Monday was followed by Emmanuel Gyang and Ismail Sajor, in the second and third positions, respectively.
In the female category, Gebru, completed the race in 33 minutes,
59 seconds and was followed by Kenya’s Veronica Maina, who finished in
34 minutes, 19 seconds.
Timbili Jemeli, also from Kenya, took the third position after completing the race in 34 minutes, 39 seconds.
The fastest Nigerian female athlete in the race, Deborah Pam,
finished in 38 minutes, 15 seconds and was followed by Elizabeth Nuhu
from Nasarawa State in 38 minutes, 41 seconds, while Rose Ajusho came
third in 38 minutes, 55 seconds.
The winner, first and second runners-up in the elite female
category also received, $15,000, $10,000 and $7,000, respectively. For
the Nigerian male and female categories, the winners, first and second
runners-up got N250,000, N100,000 and N80,000, respectively.
Governor Godwin Obaseki said that the event had been instrumental
in opening up the host community to economic prosperity. Obaseki said
that the state government would further explore the community for other
purposes which would be beneficial to the residents in the area.
“We have been able to bring the world to come and view the
beauty of this region, to see how scenic it is, to see the vegetation,
the landscape and the resources that are available for a wide range of
investment – from agriculture to dairy and others,” he added.
He also commended the organisers and sponsors for making the 5th
edition of the race a successful one. On plans to reposition the sports
sector, the governor explained that his administration would set up a
sports commission to ensure that young citizens of the state were
encouraged to participate in sports.
Obaseki said, “We have laid-out a map, a well thought-out and
implementable plan on sports. One of the key decisions is that we are
going to create a sports commission and it is going to be backed by law.
It will be focused, exclusively, on the development of sports in Edo
State.”
The Grand Patron of the race and immediate past Governor, Adams
Oshiomhole, congratulated his successor for sustaining the event.
Oshiomhole, who ran the race in 88 minutes, noted that event was a
demonstration of government’s commitment to sports development.
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