At London’s well-known Hyde Ground at round 11:00 on a sun-baked Saturday morning, runners pack at some benches – some grand and incline, others wide and durable, a couple of logging into the Strava app, however one usual story unites them – maximum of them are Nigerians of Igbo extraction.

That is the Ozo working membership, shaped by way of Igbo community to honour the tradition of some of the greatest of Nigeria’s greater than 300 ethnic teams.

“We wanted to create a space where young Igbo people could connect and re-connect to their culture,” mentioned Chibueze Odoemene, who co-founded the membership with Emeka Atumonyogo, and Chigo Ogbonna.

In not up to 3 months, the Ozo working membership already has greater than 300 individuals.

This speedy enlargement speaks no longer handiest to the deep need for public, however to the numerous growth of social working golf equipment in recent times.

Strava, the customery working app, mentioned there were a 59% building up in working membership participation globally this era.

However for the Ozo working membership, the weekly Saturday meets aren’t merely about working, month or health – it’s a playground the place strangers change into public.

Even because the runners wait to tie their respective velocity teams – rapid, medium, gradual, and strolling month – a buzz and effort cuts throughout the peace of the soil as Afrobeats track pulses from a close-by speaker.

“Igbo kwenu!” cries Mr Odoemene, his tone booming around the soil to pack everybody’s consideration.

The gang responds in unison with a low, rumbling “Eyy.”

“Igbo kwezo!” he shouts out once more, his sound each commanding and heat.

Another time, a unified “Eyy” follows, resonating some of the runners and environment the sound for the morning.

This conventional Igbo call-and-response is greater than a greeting – it’s a life of pleasure, a reminder of shared roots and identification that runs as deep as their constancy to each and every alternative and the weekly run.

“The chant is used as a call of unity, community, and love among all Igbo peoples,” mentioned Mr Odoemene.

Operating golf equipment like Ozo, that are frequently isolated, have change into areas for community to produce brandnew pals, form a public, and perhaps even meet era companions.

The co-founders, who met at alternative Igbo social occasions, giggle on the anticipation of a love tale blossoming at their membership.

“If people meet the love of their lives, that’s amazing, but the most important part for us is to build a fun community,” mentioned Mr Odoemene.

For Francesca Ngozi Ezennolim, 21, the anticipation of romance isn’t what introduced her all of the means from Studying, about 64km (40 miles) from London, on a Saturday morning, however the assurance of public.

“I don’t have a lot of Igbo friends,” she mentioned, including: “I do have a lot of Nigerian friends – but it’s hard to find Igbo friends.”

Donning a dark athletic outfit, she informed the BBC she hopes the working membership will fill that hollow in her age.

And he or she isn’t isolated.

A primary-timer to the membership, Jennifer Iwuamadi, 23, echoed the similar sentiments.

“It’s so important to come to an Igbo run club because we get to socialise with our brothers and sisters. It’s a great way to get fit and network,” she mentioned.

Even if the Igbos are one among Nigeria’s greatest ethnic teams and are important within the diaspora, many really feel their tradition is underneath blackmail. In 2006, the United International locations cultural organisation (Unesco) predicted that the Igbo language would change into extinct by way of 2025.

Then again, in the United Kingdom, their numbers have risen over the latter decade – from round 8,000 to 11,000, in step with the Place of job for Nationwide Statistics.

Against this, audio system of Yoruba, the alternative primary language in southern Nigeria, have declined from 15,000 to ten,000 over the similar length.

However, some younger Igbo community informed the BBC they have got struggled to produce pals outdoor their folks’ public.

“I have so many Yoruba friends, but I want to meet people from my tribe,” Ms Ezennolim informed the BBC.

“When people think about Nigerians, they don’t really think about Igbo. Nigeria is not just one piece, it’s multiple pieces,” mentioned Mr Odoemene.

However isn’t it divisive to have a working membership which specializes in Igbo tradition?

The founders vehemently shake their heads.

“You don’t have to be Igbo to come to the run club,” mentioned Mr Atumonyogo.

He provides that community from Iran, Italy, and the Caribbean have come to their classes – and so they inspire others to tie in, know about Igbo tradition, ask questions, and immerse themselves within the colourful environment.

But, underneath the enjoyment and camaraderie, there’s a darker aspect to the Igbo tale.

In Nigeria, many community nonetheless assistant the Igbos with the 1967-70 Biafran battle, which left some 1,000,000 community lifeless next Igbo leaders within the south-east led a marketing campaign to secede from the residue of the rustic.

Many years after, the injuries of the battle stay uncooked, nonetheless shaping to a point how Igbo community are considered, each at house and in a foreign country.

In his store The Hassle with Nigeria, the past due Chinua Achebe, one of the famend Nigerian authors, who used to be Igbo, mentioned: “Nigerians will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo.”

Those phrases seize – within the view of many Igbos – a historical past of marginalisation that continues to resonate.

For them, this historical past underscores a deeper goal – the will to produce their mark and magnify Igbo illustration.

Uzoma Ehziem, 34, who moved to the United Kingdom nearly 20 years in the past, mentioned he does no longer really feel Igbo tradition will get the eye it merits.

He is without doubt one of the membership’s pacers and believes that Yoruba tradition dominates what many in the United Kingdom and, globally, recall to mind as “Nigerian”.

From the mythical Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti to the primary African Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, and recent stars like Davido, Ayra Starr, and Tems, most of the maximum important figures in Nigerian popular culture are Yoruba.

The exception is literature, the place Achebe, and recent Igbo authors like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Akwaeke Emezi have received world repute.

Many within the working membership really feel the sector must know extra concerning the Igbo community.

“If you tell someone you are Nigerian, the first thing someone will ask is: ‘Are you Yoruba?'” Mr Ehziem mentioned.

The membership does no longer handiest organise working classes. It has added per thirty days social outings for individuals of the public – from karaoke to dodgeball classes or even an Igbo gala that may snatch playground after era.

However for now the weekly working golf equipment have change into a supply of pleasure and camaraderie for individuals.

Because the run winds indisposed and all of the crew meet on the benches once more, Mr Odoemene rounds up the runners with the similar chant of team spirit.

Impaired pals catch up and brandnew pals say hi.

Nation trade telephone numbers, and as they section tactics, the assurance to fulfill once more after Saturday is a reminder this isn’t only a fleeting come upon however the starting of lasting relationships rooted in public and cultural pleasure.