By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Convener of the yearly Arise Walk For Life, Mrs Siju Iluyomade, has assured participants and Nigerians that the 2020 edition of the event will further help to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
Addressing newsmen in Lagos on Sunday, October 11, 2020, she encouraged Nigerians to partake in the walk, assuring them of safety.
The 2020 edition of Arise Walk For Life is themed #StayingAlive and will take place on Saturday, October 17 across the globe.
“You can just walk in a cluster of 25 but you must maintain social distance in the process,” the wife of a popular cleric, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David Parish, Lagos, said at the media briefing held at the Four Point By Sheraton Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
She noted that the event, which started over 10 years ago, will commence at 7:00am in over 50 clusters across Nigeria, London, the United States of America, Canada and various isolation centres.
According to her, personalities expected at the walk are the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Sports and Super Eagles legend, Daniel Amokachi; Olympic Gold medallist and sports administrator, Mary Onyali; former deputy governor of Lagos State and Special Adviser to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Mrs Adejoke Orelope Adefulire; DJ Humility, DJ Xclusive, Kaffy, DJ Cuppy, Bimbo Akintola, Nathaniel Bassey, Peter Rufai, amongst others.
Mrs Iluyomade further said, “Arise Walk For Life means to get up, keep yourself alive and walk,” noting that Africa recorded a few cases of COVID-19 because Africans do regular walk and this strengthens their hearts and makes them to burn calories in the process.
“Walking eliminates joint aches and boosts the immune system, which is why COVID-19 is limited in Africa,” the convener of Arise Women, a purely humanitarian foundation and organisers of the programme, told journalists yesterday.
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