The wife of the Governor of Anambra State, Mrs Nonye today in an exclusive media chat with select journalists in the state, said her Healthy Living Clubs domesticated at the various schools in the state, will provide a strategic approach towards addressing issues around negative living that is driving the spate of vices and sicknesses in the state.
Mrs Soludo had the interactive session with the journalists at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, as part of efforts to bring the initiative to public awareness.
The Anambra First Lady is also seeking the buy-in of all stakeholders, especially mothers, youths and children in the state, to give the initiative the right footing to be able to firm its roots in the state.
Revealing that the Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo initiative, is something she has been championing for over ten years, the governor’s wife explained that she is only bringing it home at this time to engender a change in the attitude of the people towards their health and overall wellbeing.
“Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo is a comprehensive wellness package that cuts across six thematic areas- Nutrition, Fitness, Basic Skills, Environmental and Personal Cleanliness, Mental Health and Sound Morality.
“In-fact my business, Healthy Living Products, where I have over 100 products in the market started from this initiative.
“So it didn’t start now that I became the first lady in Anambra. No. I am only bringing it home now to the schools and to adults so that we can begin to change the way we do things.
“Our mission is actually to mobilize all the critical segments of the society to make healthy living a culture and a lifestyle,” She said.
Going further, Mrs Soludo said as a major thematic area, Nutrition is everything, regretting that the people do not take care of what they put into their system.
This she noted, has resulted in a lot of sicknesses that are killing many today.
She however noted that it is high-time the people begin to question what is packaged and sold to them to eat.
“You get a simple product and see 35 ingredients and 90 percent of it, you don’t know what they are. And you see people eating those things. I always advise that you do not consume such things.
“Until we make conscious effort to clean up our system and start eating well, we may continue to experience all these sicknesses we encounter today.
“Over the years, I have learned that our food is so powerful. Just give the body the nutrients it requires and it will serve you well and it is not too expensive to do. Cut down on consumption of processed foods because that’s why the body organs are suffering.
“Our people go about checking calories when they are considering food products but what we want them to begin to look at, are the chemicals used to preserve these food,” she said.
Emphasizing the relevance of exercise and fitness in healthy living, the Anambra Governor’s wife urged the people to dedicate little time of their days to do exercises that will help remove toxins from their bodies.
She said “I encourage our people to dedicate 2 percent of their day to exercise and you will be able to remove so many toxins from your body. The feel-good factor you experience after a morning exercise is a win-win for you. You will be more happy and more productive and when you do it over a long time, it becomes an addiction.
“The physical fitness aspect of the Healthy Living With Nonye Soludo initiative is a practical process and the people who follow me have eloquent testimonies of how the process has benefitted them immensely.”
Mrs Soludo also spoke on the environment aspect of the initiative, where she said they are trying to get the people to begin to learn how to take care of our environment especially with the prevailing challenges of erosion that the state faces.
She advised against building on waterways, improper termination of water from homesteads, illicit dumping of refuse especially in drainages, incessant felling of trees without replanting new ones, adding that these harmful practices pose very dire environmental consequences for the state.
On morality, the First Lady said the initiative is focusing on empowering the children with the sound values and morality to say no to cultism, prostitution, drug abuse, unwholesome companionship and other negative acts, as well as exposing them to sex education.
“Mothers are so busy running around for business and neglecting the main job God has given us which is taking care of these children. There is no time to discuss with them and find out their problems. These children will end up talking to friends who are in no position to advise them favourably.
“So, we call, on parents to endeavour to make out quality time to care for our children. When our children are not friendly with us, we cannot get any secret out from them.
“I want to use this August meeting to talk to women on the need to care for their children and this club we are establishing in our schools, will go further to keep these children continually conscious of these things.
“And we want to make the clubs very interactive so that the message can sink down deeper,” Mrs Soludo said.
The wife of the governor further emphasized that there are plans to firm the roots of the initiative in the schools so that after her husband must have left office, the project can continue unhindered because it would have been internalized in the system.
On how the initiative will be funded, the Anambra First Lady explained that it is driven by people with passion, with support from like minds who own businesses that do not have any connection with the state.
