In
furtherance of his ongoing campaign for members of the public to willingly
donate blood to save lives, the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps
(FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi has urged staff to always donate blood as part of
their humanitarian services to the people, saying he who donates blood, donates
lives. The Corps Marshal gave the admonition today while speaking at the end of
the July edition of the Corps Marshal’s Walking/Jogging held at the National
Stadium, Abuja.
According
to Bisi Kazeem, Corps Public Education Officer, FRSC in a press release,
Oyeyemi spoke extensively on the virtues of blood donation, cited
instances where even the donor could become the beneficiary of his good deeds
either personally or through his family who could fall victims of emergencies
and require blood transfusion. He therefore urged the staff of the FRSC to see
blood donation as part of their civic responsibilities, noting that as
rescuers, there is the need for them to always be consciousness of blood donation.
He
however warned that for one to be able to safely donate blood, the donor must
be healthy, saying that makes it imperative that they actively participate in
physical fitness secrecies through which they would become healthier and more
capable of donating blood without hazards. The FRSC Boss also called on the
staff to take sporting activities seriously, noting that they would not be able
to perform optimally without being physically fit and healthy. “That is why the
Management has provided various platforms for staff to exercise themselves
daily, weekly and monthly, and everyone must take those exercises seriously,”
he stated.
The
Corps Marshal expressed satisfaction with the large turnout and active
participation of the staff in the monthly exercise, noting that both the
turnout of staff and increased distance covered are indications of the
improvements in the initiatives which he said, would be sustained. He promised
that there would be further innovations into the exercise commencing from the
next month edition to make it more interesting and lively for the staff and
participating stakeholders.
Part
of these innovations, he said, is the introduction of new dressing codes and
relocation of the venue from the National Stadium to Wuse Zone 3 National
Headquarters of the Corps, which would become the starting point of the
exercise.
In
his remarks, the Director General of the Consumer Protection Council, Babatunde
Irukera, who was the Special Guest of Honour, commended the FRSC Management for
organising and sustaining the walking/jogging exercise in all its commands
across the country, describing it as a positive development worthy of emulation
for its health-boosting benefits. He called for massive participation of
members of the public in the physical fitness exercise, saying being fit is the
panacea for minor ailments that require painkillers.
“I
commend the FRSC Management for this initiative which would increase the health
status of the participating staff; and I want to call on all Nigerians to
embrace physical fitness exercise in their lives to make them healthier and
more productive in their workplaces,” he stated.
Represented
by Engineer Sam Kolo, the Director General also extolled the virtues of blood
donation by public spirited individuals in the collective campaign against
death due to lack of blood. To achieve this, he called for more public
awareness on the need for all healthy individuals to embrace the spirits of
blood donation and see the act as service to God and humanity.
In
their separate goodwill messages, the Chief of Defence staff and the
Commissioner of Police, FCT who were represented at the occasion, praised the
FRSC for the initiative of organising monthly and weekly sport activities for
its staff and encouraging them to participate in them. They called for
sustenance of the programme and urged members of the public to take advantage
of the platforms provided by the Corps to join in exercising themselves, saying
“to be fit, is to be healthy.”
The
July edition of the Corps Marshal’s Walking/Jogging exercise had as its theme,
“Donate Blood, Donate Life.” It was personally led by Corps Marshal Oyeyemi
with members of the FRSC Management and generality of the staff who covered the
6 Kilometer distance.
Also
in attendance were members of the Special Marshals as well as Armed Forces and
paramilitary personnel who enthusiastically covered the designated distance
assisted by Music provided to keep the morale of the participants constantly
high.
It
would be recalled that the Federal Road Safety Corps in its desire to develop
healthy body and soul among its personnel introduced a number of physical
fitness exercise including the Monthly Waling/Jogging, Wednesday Games and
Corps Marshal’s weekly Muster Parade to provide opportunity for staff to not
only exercise themselves, but relate socially to build the required team spirit
necessary for rescue of crash victims and other emergencies and enforcement of
traffic rules and regulations in ensuring a safe and secured nation.
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