Gov. Mbah joins 2024 Coal City Marathon, vows to make sports key business in Enugu

From Chinelo Kodilichukwu Enugu

The governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, at the weekend said his administration will invest hugely in the sports sector, and will attract international athletes in the next years marathon.

He stressed that sports will no longer be treated as leisure or recreation, but as a key business in his administration.

Mbah who participated actively in the 2024 Coal City Half Marathon, vowed to strengthen and improve the subsequent marathons in the state, by making it attractive enough for international athletes to participate as a world-class sporting event.

The governor who joined in the 21.79km half marathon, which kicked off at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, stated that the event would serve as an opportunity to discover young talents and for all sports lovers as well as the elderly to keep fit and live a healthy lifestyle.

He added that his administration was keen on sustaining and consolidating the huge success recorded in this year’s marathon through the right investment in the development of the sports industry, especially in the areas of sporting infrastructure and facilities.

Mbah noted that the state saw sports as business and source of wealth creation for the people.

“We’re investing hugely in our sports sector, and we’re not only treating sports as leisure or recreation, but we’re also seeing the sports industry as key business. That’s why in addition to quickly returning the pitch, once we came in, to enable Rangers International return to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, we just awarded the contract to renovate and overhaul our stadium and bring it to world-class standard.

“You also know that in that sector, we’ve just recently entered a memorandum of understanding to build a world-class entertainment and sports centre and this is all going to reinforce our position in the sports industry,” he added.

Mbah applauded all the participants who hails from over 20 states across the country, stressing that the goal of the event was to promote unity, discipline and cooperation amongst Nigerians.

He noted that in a few years to come, the state would join the league of world athletics competitions, because of the level of investments the administration was committing to the industry.

“What is even more important is the desire of the state to take the Enugu State Marathon event to the next level. In few years, I want you to note that the Enugu State Marathon is going to be part of the world international athletic events. Just as you have the Boston Marathon, the London Marathon, you’ll also have the Enugu Marathon in the international athletics calendar,” he added.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Lloyd Ekweremadu, explained that part of the goals of the marathon was to continue to foster the culture of sports and fitness, which engenders healthy development.

He expressed satisfaction over the success of the event, saying participants from other states were happy about the hospitality and the excellent works the governor was doing in the state through his infrastructural drive.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of prizes to the winners of this year’s Marathon. Francis James, Israel Sadjo, and Nenfort Mathias clinched the sum of ₦1,000,000, ₦500,000 and ₦300,000 as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places respectively in the male category.

Also, Patience Dahyop, Agofurb Charity and Munitikat Emmanuel clinched the same amounts as the winner, 1st and 2nd runners up, respectively, in the female category.