Ex-lawmaker unveils walk initiative for better health in Ekiti
Former House of Representatives member, Bimbo Daramola, has advocated the adoption of walking as a way of tackling some major and debilitating health challenges.
Daramola, who described such as an important way to be healthy and promote wellness, said, “Medical science has established that with the adoption of walking, our bodies have the ability to auto-correct some major and debilitating health challenges.”
The ex-federal lawmaker who represented Ikole/Oye Federal Constituency spoke in Ado Ekiti on Saturday while unveiling the monthly “BAO Walk,” which he said would be taken across the 16 local government areas of the state to promote good health practices.
The lawmaker said that the monthly walk, which would cover between six and 15 kilometres, would feature health and wellness talks after the exercise while water, basic analgesics and multivitamins would be available for those who might need them.
He said, “We all know that medicine today advocates the embrace of what is called lifestyle modification as one of the key ways to stay healthy. So, the once-a-month BAO Walk is a symbolic representation activity that is aimed at extending the frontiers of care and concern for the well-being and wellness of Ekiti people”.
Daramola, who said that Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji had invested immensely in the health sector, said that the walking initiative is a good health-promoting activity to complement what the governor is doing towards making our people healthier.
He said, “The Biodun Oyebanji administration can continue to invest in healthcare features like building good hospitals and equipping them. We believe this is a composite feature in the quest and pursuit of total wellness of Ekiti people by the governor and his administration.
“The introduction of this good health-promoting activity is basically to push up this consciousness and hope that, once a month, in every local government area, it can become a lasting feature that will become a weekly corporate activity and ultimately a daily personal choice in our lives.
“It has been said by medical science that it is not all ‘medications that come in the forms of tablets or capsules or injections,’ and today a life that moderately incorporates walking can help to stay off medication in the form of tablets and hospital visits. So walking has been established to be one of the non-swallowable medications.
“It has been discovered by medical science that the adoption of walking can help us stay well or impact our health situation remarkably. But it would appear like an abdication of personal responsibility if we don’t consciously adopt this simple but effective complementary way to sustainably empower our bodies for good health.
“Other side benefits is that it promotes and deepens social interaction and interconnection among our people. This also has inherent good health benefits, that’s why you have health clubs and walk groups in some other parts of the world.”
