Nigeria, July 27, 2016 – Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, Professor ‘Lanre Fagbohun has admonished members of staff and students of the institution to take exercise as a way of life, saying they should always balance service delivery and academic with routine exercises.
The Vice Chancellor was represented by the Registrar, Mr. Akinwunmi Oladapo Lewis at a sensitization programme on Health benefits of exercise for staff and students, organised by the Sports Centre of the University, on Wednesday, 12th July, 2016, at the Hussam Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Sports Centre, Main Campus, Ojo, Lagos.
He told the audience comprising mainly of staff and students “it can’t be academic, work all the time, not only theory as well, we must once in a while go practical. We must balance academic, service delivery with exercise for us to live a healthy life and longer to network”.
The Vice Chancellor applauded the organisers and urged members of the University Community to take advantage of the opportunity, especially, “the new dawn” at the University, saying he strongly believed we all need to go back to the basics.
Delivering a paper on the topic, the Acting Director, LASU Sports Centre, Dr. Femi Adeogun urged all to embrace the culture of regular exercises, admitting that majority, both staff and students were under-exercised. “We all under exercise as a nation. We look, instead of play. We ride, instead of walk, our existence/lifestyle deprives us the minimum of physical activity essential for healthy living. Physical inactivity is an epidemic”, he lamented.
The Acting Director, listed the following as benefits of exercise, it boosts mood, controls weight, improvement of mental alertness, physical fitness, reduction of medical cost, enhancement of sexual life amongst other benefits. He warned that exercise could be abused, anyone intending to go on a new exercise programme should first check with his or her doctor before embarking on such exercise, most especially, if one had not exercised for a long time.
“If you have chronic health problems, such as arthritis and other ailments, stay away from exercises. Attitude must be great as knowledge. Reduce television time, replace it with exercises”, he ended. There were observations, comments and questions. Thereafter, the participants walked round in group and moved to the Football Field for the aerobics session.
