The Torch Relay, which precedes Mangrove Marathon Warri 2022, begins with a Torch Lighting Ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. The event marks the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystems.
Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, along with other dignitaries including Sharon Ikeazor, Minister of State, Niger Delta, and Thomas Ereyitomi, Member, House of Representatives (Warri Federal Constituency), performs the ceremony before passing the torch to the Torchbearers.
Thereafter, the Torchbearers will tour some mangrove bearing communities in the Niger Delta before arriving Warri, Delta State. The torch is then presented to His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, the Olu of Warri, on the eve of the Marathon (Friday, July 29). At this occasion, the Olu will give his blessings and express his support for good environmental stewardship as advocated through the Marathon coming up the following day, Saturday, July 30.
CEO/MD, Mangrove Marathon, Jerry Chidi, said: “These activities and the Marathon (10km Awareness Run/Fun Walk) celebrate our Mangrove heritage as an invaluable natural resource that provides for the people’s livelihood and well-being. The activities also symbolically call for inclusiveness and cooperation among stakeholders in efforts to restore, manage and conserve this gift of nature.
“For the very first time, the environment takes centre stage in sports, and this is a willing combination to power and drive environmental awareness. This is the idea behind Mangrove Marathon.
“The mangrove ecosystem is an indispensable natural resource that provides for our sustenance and well- being. Their unprecedented degradation in recent years impacts negatively not just our coastal communities but the whole region. The Mangrove Restoration Torch Relay is therefore an important ceremony to galvanise action and rally stakeholders for Mangrove Restoration.”
