Health is Wealth

‘HEALTH IS WEALTH’- A PAPER PRESENTED BY OLUGBENGA ADEBIYI JOHN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL YOUTHS ACTION SOIETY NETWORK ON WEDNESDAY 16^TH MAY 2012 AT THE MDG LIBRARY, VETLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL COMPLEX DURING THE ‘HEALTH WEEK’ ORGANIZED BY IFAKO-IJAIYE EDUCATION AUTHOURITY.

Mr Chairman, Special guests of honour, members on the high table, ladies and gentlemen. I feel greatly honoured to be called upon to speak on this topic during this august occasion of our Health week. When I was called upon by the Executive Secretary of this LGEA, Mr. Murisik Taiwo Balogun, that I would be presenting a paper on the above title, I was surprised.

Judging by age, I think I am the youngest here to talk to my elders on Health. But since, as my people would say ‘Omode gbon’ agba gbon lafi da Ile-Ife’. This means that no man is an island to himself.

Last year, the Human Life Expectancy Index released by the Federal Ministry of Health put the maximum life expectancy between 49 and 54 years. If this report is anything to go by, it means that if by sheer grace anyone in Nigeria happens to clock 60, it would be ungrateful for such a one not to throw a big party because that person has broken the Nigeria Life Expectancy record. Funny as it may sound, this is howbeit the reality. ‘Health is of course wealth’ as there is a lot of wisdom in this saying.

The Asians are the longest living human species on earth and the reason is not hard to seek- they are close to nature as much as possible. We have often heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” We are not only what we eat, our health respond to how we act or react to what pertains to our health.

The Europeans on the other hand face a serious health risk courtesy of their eating habits. Most Europeans are heavy consumers of calories and junk food which threatens health and reduces longevity.

In Africa here, we are having a lot of problems now as we have many obese people. Twenty years ago, nobody in Nigeria is talking about obesity because why should anybody raise an alarm on what is not yet a problem. But now, we are having both obese men and women (even obese children). The irony is that people misinterpret obesity for being fat and then calls if a sign of good health. This is because of the ignorance among the average Nigerian citizens which has cut many people’s life short. It is not uncommon to see women having too much fat in their bodies while men have pot-bellies. This is indeed a sign of bad health and needed urgent medical attention.

So, to do justice to this paper, I would like to give a poser: ‘What is being healthy? By my own definition, being “health is remaining in a state of physical, mental and spiritual alertness in such a way that the body’s metabolism and system functions effectively thus radiating in the person’s physique and physiology”. If this is correct, then we cannot say that a person who physically healthy and mentally imbalance can be said to be healthy. Neither can one is emotionally unstable be said to be healthy.

Since we all agree that health is wealth, what then are the catalyst to healthy living? I will divide these to two perspectives: DOs and DON’T.

DOs (12 HEALTY HABITS TO CUTIVATE/DEVELOP)

• Eat balance diet
• Obey the rules of hygiene
• Exercise regularly
• Eat fruits – (orange is rich in Vitamin C; watermelon is rich in water; apple is rich in vitamin)
• Have a maximum rest of at least eight hours
• Take/Eat vegetables
• Eat sea foods and less of beef (snails, shrimps, fish, periwinkles, etc. But eating liver is very good)
• Have a regular medical check-up
• Take herbs
• When sick consult a doctor
• Laugh (Laughter is the best medicine)
• Relax, don’t worry. Overthinking has caused complicated health problem in Nigeria

DON’T (10 KILLERS TO AVOID)

• Eat junk food (going to eateries and eating snacks)
• Eat sugary things (consume more soft drinks)
• Don’t  exercise
• Be your own doctor whenever you have a slight headache or stomachache
• Consume too much beef and pork
• Be far from nature
• Eat too much
• Cheat nature (Overwork yourself and don’t take rest- work 24/7)
• Eat between meals
• Eat late
• Get mad over every little thing (create a storm in a tea cup)
• Depend on drugs all the time
• Frown your face
• Have no time for fun and social activity

Having seen these, let’s talk about the health challenges in Nigeria

Challenges to Healthy Living in Nigeria

In this part of the world, there are many factors posing serious challenges to our health as individuals.

Some of such factors are:

• Poverty- In year 2000, Nigeria was rated as one of the third poorest countries in the world living on less than 1 US$ per day. Then the level of poverty is just around sixty per cent. Early this year, Nigeria still retains the position and the level of poverty has skyrocket to 79 per cent or over.
• Unemployment occasioned by the rural-urban drift
• Underdevelopment
• High cost of living
• Poor standard of living
• Lack of access to health facilities
• Unpalatable doctor-patient ratio of 1:2,000 patients
• Brain drain syndrome
• Non-existence health policy
• Lack of well-equipped hospitals
• Bad leadership
• Corruption
• Poor access to health facilities and drugs
• Quack doctors
• Illiteracy, ignorance and poverty

Having explained all these, let  me conclude with:

Pathway to Healthy, Happy, Wealthy Living

Amidst all the challenges staring us in the face as individuals towards living a radiant life, we have no choice to healthy living because it is sine qua non and non-negotiable. If we write the word HEALTH horizontally, we would have this acronym which explains our duty to healthy living.

H- Hygiene (Obey the rule of hygiene)

E- Eat (Eat good food and fruits)

A-     Avoid (Avoid eating sugary things)

L-  Love (Love nature; love life)

T-  Treat (Prevention is better than care)

H-  Have fun (Exercise regularly)

Olugbenga Adebiyi, an educationist, journalist, entrepreneur, development practitioner is the Execive Director of Global Youths Action Society Network/Gemsland Nigeria Ltd. Tel: 08050232580,08068376778, 07023260353. E-mail; pragmaticgbengus@gmail.com