By Vera Wisdom-Bassey
• Dr. Nkem Okoro and Mrs Ada Matthew and others during “The Wife” retreat, recenlty
The Wife, a non-governmental organization dedicated to empowering women recently hosted its 18th Annual General Meeting, Retreat, and Vigil at Park View Estate in Ikoyi, Lagos. The event, led by founder Dr. Nkem Okoro and Chief Coordinator Madam Ada Emeka Matthew, marked a departure with activities like swimming, GYM, dancing, and aerobic exercises aimed at improving women’s health.
Attendees, visibly excited, participated in these activities, with some experiencing swimming for the first time. The event also included a nighttime vigil at Guiding Light Assembly, featuring praise and worship by Jerusalem and Pastor Patricia Osagie.
The two-day program featured a Saturday walk, various aerobic exercises, and discussions on pressing issues, particularly the “Ills of Morality among young people.” Ada Matthew Emeka, the Wife’s Chief Coordinator, emphasized the organization’s commitment to reaching schools to address moral decay among young girls.
Key topics during the AGM included “Benefits of Exercise” by Dr. Gertrude Dike and “Raising Godly Children” by Okoro. She stressed the importance of unity between spouses in child upbringing “Both parties must become one body, soul and spirit for this to be possible”, this three factors will enable them have holy upbringing of their children and expressed satisfaction with the event’s success.
Reflecting on the retreat’s purpose, Okoro said: “We have to gather and give account of our stewardship and seeking for a stepping stone for higher ground. The retreat provided a platform for interaction and physical activities like the swimming which some of the women had never engaged in before and with the founder’s daughter, Chika, contributing to the swimming training.”
Okoro encouraged Nigerian women to engage in multiple jobs and household farming to secure their future. Dike outlined a seven-point agenda for body care during her talk, which includes, It reduces blood pressures she encouraged the women to dance in the presence of God, this produces happy omen which controls the blood pressures.
Thirdly, exercise reduces stress. Exercise is good for our hearts, being women as we grow older, our hormone imbalance is flushed. Exercise helps us to maintain a happy hormone, “if your not happy, you cannot obtain from God, neither would you have a good mood.
By being happy, we are keeping our brain healthy. It helps you become confidence of yourself. “if you don’t exercises well you will not have a healthy sexual life either, nor be able to have good positions in bed, it is exercise that improves on that area.”. Bicycle riding is another form of exercise that keeps your body fit. It also reduces sugar level in the body.
linking exercise to improved sleep, stress reduction, heart health, and overall well-being.
The Wife’s holistic approach to health encompasses physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects, reinforcing its commitment to women’s overall well-being.