The Human Concern Foundation International (HCFI) on Sunday held the 2022 edition of its annual walk for life, walk for peace programme in Lagos State, Nigeria.
The walk which drew so many people from all walks of life and across organisations started as early as 7:35am as participants walked from LASPARK Gardens in Jibowu, Yaba where they converged to Maryland and then back to LASPARK Gardens.
Muslim News reports that the exercise lasted for about 3 hours, as participants sometimes walked briskly and slowly in navigating their ways.
There were also chants of quotes including, walk for life, walk for peace; walk for good governance; walk for life, avoid obesity; walk for life, avoid diabetes; walk for life, avoid hypertension, punctuated by distribution of flyers detailed with the benefits of walking to road users.
Earlier, the activity was kickstarted by an Adhkaar (remembrance of Allah) which the congregation read for some minutes while doing the walk.
Our reporter also observed that vehicles were made available for exhausted participants to rest frequently, including the provision of water, chewing gum and snacks to make the walk an interesting experience.
It’s a wake up call for people to live healthy, peacefully, says Prof Oreagba
Speaking with Muslim News on the sidelines of the event, Director, HCFI, Prof Ibrahim Adekunle Oreagba, said the walk which has become an annual tradition is a wake up call for people to live healthy, peacefully and advocate good governance.
The Director who clarified that their organisation is non-partisan added that they are concerned about good governance and the need for citizens to choose tested, trusted and capable candidates in the 2023 general elections.
“Every year, we organise the walk for life programme. The objective of walk for life is to bring out the importance of regular exercise in the life of every human being. Walking regularly promotes good health.
Regular walk prevents cancer, risk of stroke, cardiovascular diseases
According to Oreagba, a Professor of Pharmacology at CMUL/LUTH, “Walking regularly prevents cardiovascular diseases, risk of hypertension, risk of diabetes, risk of certain types of cancer, risk of stroke. It also helps to strengthen the muscles and reduce the incidence of arthritis and so many other medical conditions. Therefore, this necessitates regular walk or regular exercise, 10 minutes everyday is not too much. If you can do more than 10 minutes, it’s even better. Take a walk rather than take your car. That’s the slogan.
Speaking further, he noted that the second objective of the walk for life is to promote good governance, stressing that, “In Nigeria, we are looking at elections next year. So we are walking to encourage everybody to come out and vote for good governance. Let us vote the right candidates that will serve us. Let us have our PVCs and ensure we vote. Let’s ensure that good governance reigns supreme,” he said.
“The third objective is peace. That’s why we call it walk for life, walk for peace. We want to ensure that people maintain peace and order. There is no alternative to peace. Nigeria is a peaceful country and we believe that Almighty Allah will continue to grant us peace, irrespective of our differences. We believe strongly that peace is the best answer. That’s why we are walking for peace. We thank all our partners for their cooperation and support.
“We are a non-partisan, non-governmental, non-political organisation but we ensure that people vote for the right persons. As citizens of this great country, we deserve good leadership; we deserve good governance. Our advice is pick up your PVC, don’t be at the back seat. Also ensure you look at the candidates. Look at the one that has been tested, trusted and delivered to this country Nigeria. If you say that all of them are bad, there will be one that is least amongst all the bad and who has delivered and you can see what he has done. That is the kind of person that will give us good leadership. We are not partisan, so we cannot be mentioning names.”
Prof Oreagba listed major partners of the programme to include, the Center for Global Peace Initiative (CGPI), LASPARK Gardens, LASTMA, The Muslim Congress (TMC), Ansarudeen, Al-Mu’minaat, FOMWAN, NASFAT, among others.
“The Center for Global Peace Initiative (CGPI) has been our partners right from time. We handle the health aspect, while they handle the peace aspect of the walk. That’s why we call it walk for life, walk for peace. We also have another partner, the Congress Guards of The Muslim Congress (TMC), they ensure security, love and order as we move slowly from Jibowu Bus Stop (LASPARK Gardens) to Maryland and back to LASPARK Gardens.
“We also have other supporters. We have Rite Foods, makers of Bigi drinks. We have PillBox Pharmacy who have supplied us with a certain amount of souvenir. We have the LASPARK Gardens that provided the conducive garden for us to take off from and also to arrive. We have LASTMA. They have been very good to us, guiding us, maintaining the traffic. They have been so wonderful. We also have other partners like The Muslim Congress, the Ansarudeen, Al-Mu’minaat, FOMWAN, NASFAT. They have all been supportive towards ensuring the success of this programme. We thank them all.”
It’s in fulfilment of the Prophet’s injunction: TMC
Also speaking, the Deputy Amir, Administration of The Muslim Congress (TMC), Alhaji Mikail Animashaun, noted that the objective of the walk is in fulfilment of the Prophet’s statement that a strong, healthy Muslim is better than a weak one.
“Of course, a weak Muslim is also recognised by Allah the moment the eeman is there, but when you are stronger, it makes you more beloved to Allah. By implication you will be able to fulfil all religious obligations. If you look at our religion, everything bothers around you being healthy.
“For example, to observe solat, you need to be healthy to perform it effectively and the way it has been prescribed by Allah. If you want to observe fast, you need to be healthy too. You know people with diabetes have issues with fasting. You want to perform Hajj, you need to be healthy. And a whole number of our acts of ibaadah.”
He said the walk was a success as people turned out massively for it, expressing hope that future ones would be better.
“That shows that we could have had more people come out given the efforts that went into the planning. Alhamdulilah, it was a success and we hope that subsequent ones will be better than this one. All government agencies that partnered with us were there. We had representatives of many other Islamic organisations. What we would have to do subsequently is to give it more publicity in the future,” he added.
Women should not be left out in regular exercise: Al-Mu’minaat rep
For her part, Hajiah Basirat Bisiriyu Oreagba, a member of Al-Muminaat, one of the several Islamic organisations that participated in the walk said her organisation has been an active partner in the walk.
Mrs Oreagba who explained that it was her first time of participating fully in the walk noted that it was an opportunity for women who barely have a culture of doing exercise. She encouraged organisations that have not been part of the event to join subsequent editions.
“Even though we are not too many, we deemed it fit to be represented and participate in the programme. We believe that walk for life is for everyone. We all need to exercise our bodies. We all need to walk for life. We all need to walk for peace. We all need to walk for health. It’s very good.
“We women especially don’t have that culture of walking or doing exercise here in Nigeria. So, this is an avenue for us where we are able to do it in group. Some of us are panting, but we know that we have to compete with others and keep pace with them. So, we keep stretching ourselves. And at the end of the day, we are able to achieve it. It’s a thing for everyone to participate in. All organisations should be part of it. Subsequently we should make efforts to reach out to other organisations to join and participate in this very laudable activity that is beneficial to all.
“I am very happy to be part of this exercise. *This is my very first time. I have always been coming late before. But this time around, I started with them and ended with them*. Initially, I was afraid that if not being able to make it. But as I saw people going, I also kept going.
“At a time I had to enter the vehicle that was provided for those who might get tired along the line. I entered and came out again. There is this joy that you feel when you are able to achieve something. That’s the excitement I had when I finished. I felt very light. It’s something everybody should do. It’s something that is very good for us to inculcate.”
