{"id":6236,"date":"2025-12-01T20:19:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pillartoday.ng\/?p=6236"},"modified":"2025-12-01T20:22:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:22:51","slug":"ngos-raises-awareness-on-hiv-aids-through-school-sports-as-bakassi-students-dominate-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"pillartoday.com.ng\/?p=6236","title":{"rendered":"NGO Raises Awareness on HIV\/AIDS Through School Sports as Bakassi Students Dominate Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The winners from Bakassi<\/em><\/p>\n

By Anietie Akpan<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Non Governmental Organization (NGO), Talents-Afrique Reservoir Foundation has once again taken its awareness campaign on HIV\/AIDS through School Sports in Cross River State.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s tournament was a 10.5km race, held along the Calabar Carnival route, formed part of the NGO\u2019s annual campaign to raise awareness on HIV\/AIDS through school sports and health advocacy and it marked the 8th edition with 15 secondary schools participating across five Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Cross River State.<\/p>\n

Students from Bakassi LGA, swept all podium positions at this year\u2019s World AIDS Day Quarter Marathon, organised by the Talents-Afrique Reservoir Foundation, led by Dr. Daniel Okwoche.<\/p>\n

For the second consecutive year, Patient Effiong of Government Secondary School, Bakassi, emerged champion in the girls\u2019 category. The SS3 student said she was \u201cvery, very happy\u201d to defend her title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took first last year. This year too, I took first. And I have more assurance that I\u2019m going to do it again next year,\u201d she said, crediting her success to a senior state athlete who mentors her. She also thanked her parents for believing in her, saying, \u201cGod bless them for keeping hope in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the boys\u2019 category, Delight Okon of Rainbow High School, took first place after finishing second last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very happy to win this year\u2019s marathon. Last year I took second, so I trained harder. I give glory to God and to my coach, \u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Okon, who is inspired by athletes he follows online, expressed hopes of becoming a professional long-distance runner. He urged organisers to \u201ckeep bringing more athletes from other states\u201d and strengthening the competition.<\/p>\n

Blessing Offiong of Rainbow High School once again took second place in the girls\u2019 category, repeating her 2023 feat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy. I know God has blessed me with second,\u201d she said, urging organisers to \u201ccontinue with the tournament every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the boys\u2019 second-place category, Zion Ekpo of Rainbow High School moved up from fourth to second this year. He thanked his parents for supporting him and said his dream for 2025 is simple: \u201cTo take first position.\u201d<\/p>\n

The girls\u2019 third position went to first-time participant Blessing Bassey of Diamond Grammar College, Bakassi.<\/p>\n

In the boys\u2019 category, Lawrence Okon of Government Secondary School, Ikang Central, improved from fourth place last year to finish third.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the event, founder Dr. Daniel Okwoche said this year’s edition recorded about 15 participating schools from Bakassi, Akpabuyo, Calabar Municipality, Calabar South and Akamkpa.<\/p>\n

He noted that while turnout was lower due to economic constraints, Bakassi schools swept all trophies for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took everything this year,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe because of the remoteness of their schools, the children tend to be stronger on the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Okwoche also highlighted the long-term impact of the program, noting that several past participants are now professional athletes, footballers, or referees.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of them represented Nigeria in Kenya at an African Championship. Others are playing football abroad, and some are now football referees. I sponsor about three of them currently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He encouraged the young athletes to remain committed despite economic challenges: \u201cBe consistent. One day an opportunity will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual quarter marathon continues to serve as both an HIV\/AIDS sensitization platform and a springboard for emerging athletic talent in Cross River State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The winners from Bakassi By Anietie Akpan A Non Governmental Organization (NGO), Talents-Afrique Reservoir Foundation has once again taken its awareness campaign on HIV\/AIDS through School Sports in Cross River State. This year\u2019s tournament was a 10.5km race, held along the Calabar Carnival route, formed part of the NGO\u2019s annual campaign to raise awareness on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}