Cross River To Revive Obudu Mountain Race

The Cross River State government has declared that arrangements were in top gear to revive the 11.25km Obudu Mountain Race competition abandoned by the immediate past administration as a way of relaunching the state eco-tourism sub-sector.

The mountain race, if revived would attract a lot of tourists into the state to boost the hospitality industry and several other businesses operating in the state.

Commissioner for Tourism Development Mr. Robert Ewa revealed this Tuesday in Calabar while unveiling the calendar for 2024 Carnival activities.

Ewa who unveiled the plan averred, that the state is out to bring in a lot of innovations in the sector to harness the untapped potentials in the sector.

“We will organise packages for the leisure of tourists, and the state is very rich in eco-tourism like the Gorilla project in Akamkpa and Boki where we have the only species of highland gorilla in the world.

“We also hope to develop tour sites like the Qua Falls which is very fantastic, Boki Waterfalls, Drill Ranch, Monoliths and the Marina resort,” Ewa said.

The commissioner maintained that the 11.25km Obudu Mountain Race competition will kick off this year, stressing that the competition will help in the development of tourism sector.

In his remarks, Executive Secretary of the State Carnival Commission, Austin Cobham, stressed that creative innovations will be added to this year’s carnival.

Cobham added that the timetable is put in place as a way to show the commitment of the commission to stage a much better carnival this year.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the annual Obudu Mountain Race which was conceived under the administration of former Governor Donald Duke first held in 2005.

The race had the largest total prize money available of any mountain race and known as the world’s richest mountain race with a total prize pot of around $250,000.

The race was created by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) when Dan Ngerem was President, and was promoted by Duke as a means of raising awareness to the Obudu Cattle Ranch in which the Cross River State made huge investment as a tourist resort.