The wife of the Governor of Anambra State, Nonye Soludo, has urged Nigerians to embrace walking and cycling as a means to reduce vehicular air pollution and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Mrs. Soludo made this call during a media chat held on Tuesday in Awka as part of her campaign, “Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo.”
She emphasized the need for Nigeria to take stronger action in addressing vehicular pollution, which stands as one of the primary contributors to air pollution and the driving force behind climate change in society.
“The emissions from our vehicles are polluting the air and environment, and this is hazardous to human health.
“We need to introduce and embrace cycling to reduce carbon emissions and exposure. It is a clean mode of transport and a fitness choice with health benefits.
“Sometimes we need to park our cars and walk more, especially if we are not going a long distance,” she said.
She said that the healthy living campaign was aimed at promoting good nutrition, environmental cleanliness, basic life skills, and sound morals in society.
Mrs Soludo said she had started taking the campaign to primary and secondary schools to help children imbibe the culture of healthy living.
“I started championing Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo 10 years ago. I give talks on healthy lifestyles and good diets with our local foods.
“I want to bring the message home to our people because we need to be healthy to achieve a liveable and prosperous homeland.
“I have started forming Healthy Living Clubs in our schools to inculcate the culture of healthy lifestyles and catch them young so that they can grow into responsible adults.
“Our children need to get addicted to eating healthy, doing physical exercises, and practicing environmental hygiene to stay healthy, rather than getting addicted to their phones and social media,” she said.
She urged Nigerians to cut down on processed foods and embrace backyard farming to harvest and eat natural foods.
“Our local foods are readily available and cheap. They are also energy-giving, healing, and medicinal to our body systems, organs, and general health.