Members of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administration of Nigeria, ICSAN, have been urged to exercise regularly to be healthier and have improved mental fitness.
ICSAN also asked members, their families, associates and the public to be more conscious of their health habits.
The ICSAN annual “Walk 4 Life”, walk and aerobic session was fused with health talks and enlightenment talk.
The walk which lasted about two hours kicked off from the Institute’s Secretariat through Lagos State Secretariat, both in Alausa, to Allen Avenue round about and back to the ICSAN office.
The walk 4 Life which had both male and female numbering about one hundred wore purple and white t-shirts with face-caps is a prelude to ICSAN 2022 annual conference, holding on Thursday and Friday.
According to ICSAN President and Council Chairman, Taiwo Gbenga Owokalade, the ICSAN “Walk 4 Life” is not a new idea by the Institute, “it’s been there for many years but getting bigger and better organised as more partners are drawn on board to partner with on the project”.
In his words, Niola Cancer Foundation, Lion Club District 404B1, Nigeria, and the Lagos State House of Assembly are featuring in the Walk 4 Life activities for the first time.
Owokalade said as a professional institute, the members are extremely busy but opportunities like this helps them to loosen up as ICSAN brings in other partners to add value to the event.
According to him, governance is not a matter that you keep to yourself, you have to share it because governance cuts across both private, public, and also not-for-profit organisations. “We have to ensure that we keep widening the space. Keep doing this conversation and this narrative so that as many people as possible will know what we are doing”.
He described ‘Walk 4 Life’ as an opportunity for members to unwind, much more than that, have access to other information that will make a huge difference to us and everybody – “sound mind we do have, sound body we also need so that when you say he is a professional, he is a professional both in activities and also the skills that he possesses”.
He said the major reason for the event was to remind participants and the citizenry to engage in exercises to keep them healthy and mentally fit.
According to him, the walk would further help to sensitise the public about the Institute’s upcoming Annual Conference, scheduled for September. 15 to 16.
The ICSAN boss, however, commended the participants and urged them to cultivate the habit of exercising themselves and keeping fit as a lifestyle.
Delivering a health talk for the benefit of members and participants on-site and online, Chief Executive Officer of Niola Cancer Foundation, Eniola Akintunde, said apart from the popular breast and cervical types of cancers that are well known, Colorectal or colon cancer is another dangerous cancer that is secretly killing people, families, neighbours, loved ones because people rarely conduct needed screening or examinations for early detections and treatments.
According to Akintunde, this happens because colon cancer may sometimes be asymptomatic having the disease but not showing any symptom.
According to her, the symptoms may include a change in bowel habits including diarrhea, constipation and change in the consistency of stool or narrowing of the stool, lasting for more than 4 to 6 weeks; Rectal bleeding or blood in the stool; Persistent abdominal discomfort such as cramps, gas or pain; Weakness or fatigue; and or unexplained weight loss, one should as a matter of urgency go for screening instead of taking analgesics.
Eniola who lost her husband to cancer while he was just 39, declared that cancer kills more people in Nigeria than the dreaded malaria.
She blamed it on poor attention to health and very unhealthy eating habits no thanks to junk foods and GMO plants and animals.
Also speaking, the representative of the Lions Club Nigeria, Global Service Team Co-ordinator, District 404B1, Adekunle Akinremi, thanked ICSAN for the opportunity to partner the institute’s Walk 4 Life.
According to him, Lion Club has served over 200milion people globally in the area of vision which is one of its areas of focus, saying this month is Lion Club’s ‘childhood Cancer’ month.
He urged participants to always remember to avail their wards of regular medical check-ups for early detection of this killer disease that is not restricted to adults alone saying it is not enough to give children Paracetamol when they complain of pains, let’s have them medically examined to forestall the untoward effects of pediatric cancer.
In his goodwill message, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, said as Public Administrators, members of the Assembly are pleased with what ICSAN stands for and doing in the area of corporate governance.
He spoke through Chairman, House Committee on Lands, Adedamola Kasumu who participated in the Walk 4 Life activities, saying it is a wonderful initiative, good for the ICSAN members, family, friends, workers, the community and people generally”
Kasumu lamented that organisations, companies, States and the nation have been losing a lot of people and that can only stop through education and sensitization and taking the necessary medical remedy and precautions.
“As organizations, we should pay attention to our people’s health and society will be the better for it. Improved health will impact productivity positively”, he advised while noting that as far as the Lagos State House of Assembly is concerned, the health of the people is of critical importance, and many constituency projects and bills with regard to health have stemmed from their regular town hall meetings across that state.
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