Federal Medical Centre Abeokuta Aerobic Group marks world walking day with endurance walk

October 4, 2025

0 61 5 minutes read

Bolaji Obabiyi (intern)

The Aerobic Group under the Physiotherapy Department of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta, on Saturday, joined the global community in celebrating World Walking Day with a community-wide awareness walk.

Penpushing reports that the walk, which kicked off from the Motor Traffic Department (MTD) area opposite Ibara Police Station took participants to major parts of the town and terminated at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Abeokuta.

The Director of Physiotherapy Services and Head of the Physiotherapy Department at of the hospital, Dr. Lateef Ramon Olayinka explained that the event was aimed to promote the physical and mental health benefits of walking, in line with global efforts to combat sedentary lifestyles and non-communicable diseases.

Penpushing further reports that Olayinka, added that the initiative was not merely an endurance test but a vital awareness campaign, and to remind everyone that walking is a basic but powerful form of exercise,

“We’ve always said this isn’t an endurance walk. It’s an awareness walk to remind everyone that walking is a basic but powerful form of exercise. Whether you’re hypertensive or not, walking safely improves your health’, he said.

Penpushing also reports that he equally stressed the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle, linking it to conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, and advised the public to adopt regular walking habits.

“You don’t need a gym. Just walk. Thirty minutes a day even if broken into smaller sessions adds up to the 150 minutes of moderate activity recommended weekly by the World Health Organization (WHO),” he added.

Penpushing reports that among the participants was Mr. Okutobo Olayemi, a staff member of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBDC), who shared how joining the aerobic group transformed his health.

“When I joined, I weighed 110kg and could barely carry myself. Now, I’m in my 90kg. I feel light and active. This program really works. My advice to those who haven’t joined is to start early. Don’t wait until health issues arise. Join now, and you’ll see the benefits’, he emphasised

Penpushing further reports Deputy Director of Physiotherapy and Coordinator of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Aerobic Group, Dr. Alimi Talayo explained the science behind walking and its benefits.

“When you walk, you strengthen your heart, improve blood flow, and nourish every organ — from the brain to the kidneys. Good circulation is essential to overall health, and walking helps achieve that naturally’, he stated

Penpushing also reports that Talayo equally pointed out that while many Nigerians walk daily, they do so not for fitness but due to necessity, adding that there is no culture of intentional exercise, but many people walk because they cannot afford transportation

“We don’t have a culture of intentional exercise. Many people walk because they can’t afford transportation. But when walking is done with a fitness mindset, it benefits your body and mind’, he said

Penpushing further reports that Mrs. Tajudeen Oyeshiji, Deputy Director of Administration at the hospital and one of the founding members of the aerobic group, described the initiative as life-enhancing, affirming that the program, which has been running for over four years, continues to receive praise from participants.

The Deputy Director emphasized that it has improved my cardiovascular health, blood circulation, and general well-being, adding that it’s been a great experience to be part of the group and exercise.

Penpushing also reports that Acting Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre(FMC), Abeokuta Dr Adekunle Adediran in his own remarks explained that World Working Day, it’s a day set aside for the world over to commemorate and remind ourselves of the importance of physical exercise and enormous benefits of physical exercise.

“It is low cost and high impact intervention that has significant impact on health benefits of anybody who practices it regularly.And that’s why we’re here today. We just walked a total of about 8.2 kilometers over about 1 hour 45 minutes’, he noted.

“And you could see that all of us were involved, young and old. And all of us took the benefits. Walking, as I said, is a form of exercise, which is very important. In fact, the body is made to be moved. I think even every layman knows if you leave a limp or move that joint will become stiff and becomes unusable with time so the way the physiology and the anatomy of the body is made it is made in such a way that we should move constantly and regularly and so walking is a mild as I said it is a low and high impact form of exercise”.

“So when we move around, it affects positively, it affects the mood and emotion. The mood is uplifted, depression goes away, anxiety and stress are reduced. It has significant impact on the heart because when you walk or when you move when you exercise the heart muscle exercises itself and it increases the functional capacity of the heart so that normal activities just become like routine the same thing with other muscles of the body when you move when you exercise regularly”

“The daily activities just become routine because the functional capacity of the muscles are increased. The same thing with the bones. The bones are stronger, so the risk of osteoporosis and fractures of the bone is much reduced. It also increases and improves digestion. It reduces the risk of diseases like obesity, stroke, heart attack,diabetes, hypertension’.

“In fact, exercise alone helps to control hypertension. Sometimes it may be more effective than even drugs, and sometimes it is better to combine it with drugs. These are some of the benefits of exercise. There are so many, so numerous, that it might take a very long time to enumerate all of them”.

“Yes, the aim of today’s commemoration is for all of us to come together, those who are in the FMC aerobic group and those who are invited to partake in this exercise to take the full benefits of walking which we have engaged in today.

We can see that if only one person decides to take that walk, he will probably stop 25% of the way”.

“But because we were together, we moved together, we encouraged one another, we were able to go the whole walk and we were able to walk 8.2 kilometers. So one is to take the benefit.

is to spread awareness. Those who don’t engage in walking or other forms of exercise, we want to spread awareness to let them realize the importance, the enormous benefits of walking so that they can also practice it and also partake in the associated benefits”.

“So I’m hoping that today members of the FMC aerobic exercise will intensify their activities there will become more regular in attendance and they will take the message home to their friends and families so that together collectively we can benefit from the advantages or the benefits of exercise.The purpose of the exercise is to teach the people exercise, healing, and other forms of exercise”, .

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October 4, 2025

0 61 5 minutes read