As top national athletes and home grown runners prepare to flex their muscles in Saturday’s Warri Effurun Peace Marathon, veteran Nigerian athletics coach Seigha Porbeni has listed the benefits of the event to the Warri, Effurun and surrounding communities.
The event was initiated by Mrs Joyce Bozimo in 2016 to promote peace among the Delta communities that were embroiled in inter-tribal conflicts, making Warri to lose its commercial status. The race was meant for only members of the small communities in Warri, but somehow the national elite athletes gatecrashed and Mrs Bozimo had no option than to expand the race.
“For eight good years we have been doing the Warri Effurun Peace Marathon, we haven’t heard of any communal clashes between the Urhobos and the Ijaws, the Ijaws vs Itsekiris or the Itsekiris vs the Urhobos.
“At the start ‘Madam Peace’ brought all the traditional rulers and their chiefs in the environs together to promote this idea of peace among the communities. They all went to the Warri Stadium and signed into the event.
“Everyone is at peace with themselves, with the communities. All that we in Warri are looking forward to now, is the reopening of the city to business. We want the Seaport and the refinery to start working again; all the companies that abandoned the Warri and Effurun will start returning,” state coach Porbeni.
He added that the WEPM has also been beneficial to all the participating athletes, in the sense that it is an event the elite national athletes and the local athletes look forward to every year.
“We have consistently held the event and all participating athletes have not for once complained about any shortcomings. Their winnings are promptly settled and they look forward to the race every year.”
