… As experts urge Nigerians to take good care of their health
By Chika Abanobi
Dr. Akinade Dare of Light Hospitals and Maternity Home, Akowonjo, Lagos, recently engaged a spellbound audience on the need to take adequate care of the body’s vital organs such as the brain, heart, liver and kidneys.
In the audience were members of the diplomatic corps, captains of industry, traditional rulers, academics and other dignitaries. He said that these organs deteriorate with age and, therefore, need to be kept in good working order.
“Though they cannot be re-created or renewed, they can be managed to get them working at their optimum for many years of our lives,” he said.
Dare was speaking at the special fellowship programme organised by members of International Friendship League (IFL), Lagos chapter, at the Multipurpose Hall of the University of Lagos (UNILAG). The event was to induct new members.
He advised people in their fifties and above to cut down on their intake of salt, soda and sugar either in their raw form or in the ingestion of foods containing those minerals. Regular intake of them, he warned, would hamper the smooth working of the vital organs of the body
While advising against self-medication, he stated that some drugs might contain harmful chemical substances that could affect the liver and kidneys. He recommended regular intake of water as well as exercise to burn off accumulated fats in the body.
Welcoming members and guests to the programme, the chairman on the occasion, Rear Admiral Stanford Enoch, director of search and rescue at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, commended the organisers for putting together the programme.
“Looking at eminent personalities gathered here, lawmakers, members of state houses of assembly and national legislators, lawyers, academics, engineers, captains of industry, traditional rulers, members of the diplomatic corps, if we cannot say with the Apostle Paul, thanks be to God, we would be most ungrateful to the Almighty God.”
He urged the audience to strive to soar on eagle’s wings by not only taking good care of their health but also their souls: “How can we soar? That’s what we’ve gathered here to look at.”
The soul-lifting programme featured a session of praise worship and intercessory prayers, hymns, testimonies, exhortations, musical interlude and refreshments.
Prof. Ayodeji Olukoju, former vice chancellor, Caleb University, Lagos, told the story of how he stopped going to church after being fed up with the situation of things. He explained that he regained the passion when he came in contact with IFL, at Ilupeju Estate, about 30 years ago.
Mrs. Morenkeji Onasanya, former managing director/CEO and, later, chairperson of Skye Bank, related how she wrote a long letter to God in which she confessed all her sins, following a book she read and which recommended the same as a spiritual catharsis. She rounded off her testimony by sharing with the audience the story of how she miraculously survived cancer in a London hospital when all hope appeared lost.
In his short exhortation, Dr. Adebayo Oyeyemi, proprietor, Good Shepherd Schools, Lagos, urged members and guests to get closer to God.
“I look at the wealth of experience present here,” he said at the beginning of his sermon. “The country does not need more than we are here today to bring about the much-talked-about transformation, if only we can surrender our lives to the one who alone can transform our lives before we can become agents of transformation.
“No matter how intelligent, no matter how rich, no matter how popular you are, without God, there’s limitation in your life.” At the end of his homily, he led the audience to a rededicate their lives to Christ.
“This is truly a family rich in the relationship that matters most,” Prof. Olukoju noted in his introduction of the association’s programmes to new members and invitees. “We rejoice together, we worship, laugh and cry together. Whatever the circumstance, we are together in Christ. Of course, we learn from one another and we learn from the Lord Himself.
“This is the beginning of a life-long partnership. Our doors are open. This is a family and, in this family, there’s no betrayal, there is no backstabbing. If you have been praying, seeking, searching for a place to belong, I want to say it authoritatively, welcome home.”