Cross River State governor, Bassey Otu, has announced that his administration will bring back the famous Obudu International Mountain race beginning in November 2024.
Commissioner for Tourism and Culture, Abubakar Ewa, who made this disclosure on behalf of the governor, during an interaction with media men in Calabar, further stated that all logistics have been set in place to ensure that this famous race returns with a bang.
“As part of this year’s carnival, Gov Otu’s administration will resume the famous Obudu Mountain race. We see the race as a critical part of the carnival. We have decided to resume the race but this time the East Africans will have to battle the top prizes with Nigerians”, he said.
On efforts so far made by the Otu administration to breath life into the once vibrant resort, Ewa disclosed that: “Effectively, we have cleared all the backlogs of debts, especially staff salaries. Nobody can say that we owe them. Government has paid over N200 million to offset debts owed by the resort. There were contract staff; those ones we have no business with. However, the 149 staff of the Obudu Mountain Resort have all been absorbed into the state civil service as a way of settling all debts owed them by the resort.”
The Obudu International Mountain Race, was until the eight year tenure of immediate past governor of CRS, Ben Ayade, an annual sports and tourism event, drawing a huge number of international sportsmen and women to the resort. It was regarded as the world’s richest mountain race, with the men and women competition winners receive US$50,000 each,
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