About 2,000 athletes from different parts of the world are expected to converge in Ilesa to participate in the maiden edition of the Ijesha Grand Marathon scheduled for April 5, 2021.
The event which will place Ijeshaland on a higher pedestal in the sports world is organized by BELTIJ limited under the leadership of Mr. Tijani Remilekun Usam in conjunction with Unique FM and Freedom TV Ilesha.
Usman who is the Chief Executive Officer of BELTIJ said the idea is to engage the youths through sport for physical fitness and build professional athletes that will represent Nigeria in international competitions
He added that the sporting programm will be all-inclusive as other aspects of the sport including football, wrestling, Boxings and handball, basketball will be introduced later.
” Apart from the sport, there is also a plan to employ about 150 youths from Ilesha at BELTIJ and that will hold very soon, I believe with this engagement our youths will have no time to engage in nefarious activities and be more productive.
Mr. Jare Ola Martins the CEO, Unique FM, and Freedom TV while speaking about why the media organization is partnering with BELTIJ on the event said, the essence is to be part of anything that will uplift the image of Ijesha as well as engage the youths productively.
A representative of the Athletics Federation of Nigerian AFN Mr. Dare Esan commended Mr. Usam for the effort and express optimism that the event will soon be an international event that will attract people from all over the world to Ijesha
Esan said the choice of Chief Tony Oseku and others as the technical committee for the events shows the seriousness of the organizer.
The chairman of Ijesha Sports Club, Hon Idowu Korede who led some members of the club to the event said the step taken by Usman in empowering the youths is a welcome development in which they will also be actively involved.
Korede pronounced Mr. Remilekun Usman as a member of the Ijesha Sports Club said as part of their effort to promote sporting activities is to make facilities at the club for public use.
Traditional rulers including Onileri of Ileri Ijesha Oba Michael Adeyinka and other traditional rulers who spoke at the event commended Mr Usman for his interest in developing his fatherland and urged others to emulate his good gesture for the development of Ijeshaland.
