We squeezed water out of stone to pay volunteers - Lagos marathon consultant

The Project Consultant of the 2nd Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Biodun Olopade, has reacted to the complaint by volunteers for the 42km race held on February 11 that they were shortchanged by the organizers.

The volunteers had on Tuesday complained that they were each paid N3,000 instead of the N10,000 they assumed would be paid as it was done during the first edition last year.
Olopade told The Eagle Online; a news report agency, on Wednesday that the volunteers were told before the race that they would not be receiving up to the N10,000 that they were paid last year.

He said the organizers had wanted to stick with the required 500 volunteers used last year, which enabled them to be paid N10,000, but there were pressures that resulted in over 1,500 people being taken for the job.

A former Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Ogun State told The Eagle Online: “Our aim was to engage just 500 volunteers for the race.
“But the pressure was so much as thousands of people showed up for the job and we had no choice than to take in more people.
“Our thinking was that sharing what was available among those to be engaged would be far better than turning back several people who needed the job.”

Olopade said for those claiming that it was the person who paid them that shortchanged them, they were wrong.

He said he personally signed a cheque of N8 million to pay the volunteers and for other services.
He said: “Last year, it was N15 million that we had for volunteers.
“This year, the budget was not up to that.
“And nobody can be blamed for that.
“We know the way things are now.
“Even the prize money alone was over $650,000.
“So something had to give way.”

Olopade said he was also taken aback by the attitude of those who took part as volunteers because volunteerism worldwide is done for free.
He said there were 28 persons from the United Kingdom and the United States of America who partook as volunteers in the marathon, adding: “They paid their own air fare, took care of themselves, all because they know that it is to add to their profile and not to make money.”