Anti-Corruption Marathon: Customs, Officers, Others Win N8 Million Prize Money

Staff of Nigerian Customs Services and the Federal Fire Service Mua’zu Shehu and Rose Akusho, respectively, among other runners, smiled home with a whopping N8 million prize money reward after winning the Abuja Anti-Corruption Marathon event held on Saturday.
Carting away the N1 million cash reward, Mua’zu, who has won the event for the fourth time consecutively, announced that his ultimate goal is to replicate the feat at international tournaments where he would compete with renowned runners from East African countries.
Akusho, the winner in the female category, expressed happiness with the N1 million cash reward, disclosing that her focus will now be shifted to the upcoming National Sports Festival and other international events.
On what went into the execution of the event, the organiser, Jacob Onu, said that without support from certain agencies, it would have been a big flop.
He however noted that having organised the fourth edition of the marathon event, he has convinced the corporate entities and other relevant agencies to key into the event.
“So much went into the planning of the event and making this a reality calls for celebration. We want to thank the agencies that helped us actualise this.
“The prize money for the winners is N1 million each. The prize money is provided by BetNaija, the leading betting company in the country. The whole prize money reward for the participants stood at N8 million.
“We are looking forward to a better-organised event next year. This next edition will be far much better than what we saw this year. I want to however appeal to relevant agencies to support us and make the next edition better.
“We are also planning to scale up the event by making it an international event probably by next year. We are hopeful that international runners will participate in the next edition,” he noted.
On the hurdles he went through, Onu said: “the challenges we encountered organising this event to the fourth edition include the reluctance of the agencies in keying into it. I don’t know why people and agencies are still reluctant to identify with us even as this is the only marathon event in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja,” he said.
The historic part of the event was a nursing mother, Deborah Pam, finishing second runners-up in the female category.
“It has not been long since I weaned my baby and started training. I am happy to finish second runners-up because I have not actually picked up.