Dear Governor Ambode,
I am so disappointed in the way the Lagos Marathon was undertaken. I understand that the idea of the marathon was to boost and attract positive attention for our city. But I must say the way the prizes were organized is grossly shameful. For the life of me, I cannot fathom a logical reason other than an intense Xenophilia, that the prize money was broken down into two separate groups. A winning foreigner would be awarded $50,000 while a Nigerian winner, of a race in IN NIGERIA, would win N=1,000,000 which is equal to $5,000 or much less on the black market.
Are we, as a country so self-loathing that we think if a foreigner completed the same taks as a local, that the local is ONLY be entitled to 10% of the foreigner’s earnings merely because of the foreigner's foreigness? Is the goal here to tell every young Nigerian child that they are only worth 10% of a foreigner? Is the goal to communicate to other countries that we have 10% value for ourselves? This kind of mindset is the reason multinational companies can hire their people to do the same job in our country and pay them 5X as much as a local because they are “expatriates”. I personally am angry and disgusted that we continue to perpetrate the ever-present remnants of colonialism by telling the world and our citizens that we are worth less.
Furthermore, after reviewing the marathon website, I still do not know what the purpose was. In a city of extreme poverty and extreme wealth, this marathon essentially a call to impoverished people that they could run a marathon and win N=1 million at the risk of their health and wellbeing. Did you know that people have died after running marathons. Dr. Cynthia Lucero died at the age of 28 while participating in the 2002 Boston Marathon. It was Lucero's second marathon. For example, at mile 22, Lucero complained of feeling "dehydrated and rubber-legged." She soon wobbled and collapsed to the ground, and was unconscious by the time the paramedics reached her. Lucero was admitted to Brigham and Women's Hospital and died two days later. I wonder if there was a public campaign to educate people to ensure that they were doing it with optimal preparation rather than the mere thought of winning 1 million naira.
In the future, people give some real thought to the needs and conditions of your citizens before planning events like this. And next time you have a Lagos City Marathon, do not short change Nigerians by telling us that we are worth 10% of any foreigner, because simply put, we MATTER!
