Gov.Otu To Revive Obudu Mountain race

 Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River has disclosed plans to revive the foremost 11.25km annual Obudu mountain race which last held in 2014.

The Governor, who made this disclosure while fielding questions from newsmen in Calabar recently, however, said that a lot of things needed to be put in place before the race could be organised.

The Cross River governor listed some of the things to include completion of the Obudu Airport, rehabilitation of the Obudu ranch, among others.

He noted that revival of the annual race is part of the plan to further boost the tourism potential of the state.

According to him, "at no time did we foreclose the return of the annual race. But it's return is predicated on putting somethings in order.

"For instance, we have to finish with the airport and the rehabilitation of the ranch. We are working hard on the airport completion.

"Cross River remains the tourism destination of the country, and it took men of wisdom, who worked hard to achieve this. 

"All we can do is to add value to what they achieve. COVID-19 dealt a blow to this sector (tourism) and paucity of funds is not helping us move at the pace we want.

"Obudu mountain race will be back and better organised," he stated.

It would be recalled that the annual rave was conceptualised in 2005 under the administration of Donald Duke.

The annual 11.25km race brought in athletes from all across the world with a lot of prizes running into hundreds of thousands of dollars up for grabs.