TheCable

BY PELU AWOFESO

At about 2pm on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, David Adjarho Obaro (aka ‘World Wrapper Man’) set out on jogging/walking trip from the national stadium in Lagos. He is actually bound for Abuja (787km away), but his first main stop was to be Edo state, where he was to participate in the Okpekpe Road Race.

Of late, the Internet has thrown up quite a number of Nigerians who are said to be ‘trekking’ from different locations in the country to Abuja purely for political reasons, so I ask the wrapperman what cause he is jogging for.

RUNNING FOR A CAUSE

“I am using this run to create awareness for the 10km Okpekpe Road Race and also for my upcoming wrapper #marathon here in Nigeria, which will be used to promote #tourism,” he tells me in between answering a torrent of questions from the local media, who watch him prepare for the run on the morning of May 6.

“I am using this race to raise N500 million for the following charity causes: (1) Activ8 (2) the Government College Ughelli Old Boys Association (3) the Beach Samaritans, as well as (4) to raise funds to build the biggest food library in Nigeria.”

According to Obaro, this project has been on the drawing board since 2013 when he relocated to Nigeria.

PROUD OF HIS NIGERIAN HERITAGE

Obaro is a multiple marathoner. In the past  five years, he has participated in the Bucharest City Marathon (2010), the Bucharest International Marathon (2011), the Club Marathon (2011),  the Bucharest International Marathon (2012), the Bucharest Half-Marathon (2012), the Triathlon Challenge, and the recently-held Lagos Half-Marathon (2015).

And he is known as the World Wrapperman, because he has participated in all these runs – not in tracksuits or conventional athletic gear – but in his native #Uhrobo attire, which comes with a 15-yard wrapper.

“Since 2010, I am the only person that has run with a wrapper in marathons and I am also the record holder of the world longest wrapper (37 yards),” he says. “I am making a statement that I am different, special and proud of my Urhobo/Nigerian culture, which has now given birth too the wrapper-marathon, which I believe will bring people from other parts of the world to Nigeria.”

Besides his Uhrobo top and the longish wrapper, Obaro is running with a Nigerian flag firmly in his grip. And a small backpack – containing a mosquito net, toiletries, a pair of undergarments and a spare pair of trousers – is strapped to his back. At the time, his sights were set at completing the Lagos-Okpekpe leg and the Okpekpe-Abuja bit.