Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has stressed the need for Nigerians to engage in routine body exercises to secure their fitness and longevity.
The Kwara State-born lawmaker’s wife was unhappy that many people die of diseases that could have been prevented through regular body exercise.
To this end, she led over 2000 people from the Ministries of Health; Youth and Sports; National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and Wellbeing Foundation for the annual “Walk the Talk” exercise in Abuja.
She told Journalists at the end of seven kilometers walk that the exercise was in line with the mandate of the World Health Organisations (WHO), to promote good health and longevity via regular body exercise.
Her words, “I was impressed with the commitment of WHO to the sensitisation of Nigerians as regards issues of health. The idea aligned with the desire of my organization, the Wellbeing Foundation, and that was why our presence was conspicuous at the event.
“WHO has championed the Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and we are committed to that project, and we are hopeful that we would make significant progress.”
She thus recommended that Nigerians developed new culture of exercising their bodies so they could stay healthy and live longer.
She added, “Medical experts have recommended that at least 35 minutes of every day be committed to exercise and it should be done thrice a week. It may be jogging or other forms of exercise depending on body system. It will help in blood circulation and prevention of certain ailments.
Meanwhile, the WHO country representative, Dr. Wondi Alemu, supported the suggestion of regular body exercise in order to prevent the body from certain category of ailments.
He promised the support of WHO to any course that would promote public health particularly at the rural level.