Ever wondered why no local or Nigerian athlete have ever made the top ten position at the Okpekpe 10 km marathon race? I guess what will come to everyone's mind is "nigerians are lazy or don't see this sport as also rewarding". But that's not the case here. It is due to poor grassroots plan and involvement, poor training resources and attitude towards the game of marathon.
The talent is there for sure, government and corporate bodies are beginning to organise the game. But some flaws in the structure and organising of the game locally which results to grave injustice towards the locals will just always thwart that dream of any local athlete emerging as winner. I referred to races organised locally as participating in marathon races abroad is not feasible for a local athlete with no sponsor. I also decided to use Okpekpe race as point of reference as I witnessed it live as a participant. Attached are screenshots of my conversations with Yusuf Ali(sec. of the race) which contained the flaws in the Okpekpe race.

Ok