By Henry Oladele
The Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Prof. Bidemi Lafiaji-Okuneye, says workplace wellness is central to productivity, institutional excellence and sustainable development.
Lafiaji-Okuneye said this on Thursday at the university’s 2026 Wellness Lecture held at its main campus at Oto-Ijanikin.
The lecture was entitled: “Workplace Wellness: Promoting Health and Preventing Diseases”.
It was delivered by Assistant Prof. Morounkeji Akin-Olugbemi.
The vice-chancellor said institutions seeking excellence must prioritise the health and well-being of their workers whose daily efforts would sustain such excellence.
“The workplace is not only a site of labour, it is also a site of living.
“It is where people think, plan, teach, research, mentor, serve, administer, innovate, collaborate, worry, celebrate and sometimes silently struggle.
“Any institution that cares about excellence must also care about the health and wellness of the people whose daily efforts produce that excellence,” she said.
According to her, health remains fundamental to personal fulfilment, family stability, institutional performance and national development.
She warned that neglecting wellness could reduce productivity and increase the burden of preventable diseases.
“When health is weak, productivity declines; when wellness is neglected, institutions suffer; when prevention is ignored, disease becomes more expensive than death,” she said.
Lafiaji-Okuneye advised that workplace wellness should go beyond treatment of illnesses to include prevention of illnesses, early detection, mental well-being, physical activity, nutrition, hygiene and healthy lifestyles.
According to her, wellness is not a luxury but an investment and a mark of responsible leadership.
The vice-chancellor said the university had continued to place its staff and students welfare at the centre of its development agenda through its A.C.H.I.E.V.E. policy framework.
She listed some of the university’s wellness initiatives to include regular medical check-up, monthly aerobic exercises, sporting and recreational activities, and strengthening of the institution’s health centre.
According to her, LASUED’s recent achievement of 100 per cent success in the National Universities Commission accreditation exercise, where all 66 programmes it presented received full accreditation, was linked to the well-being and dedication of its staff.
Lafiaji-Okuneye also stressed the importance of mental health, urging institutions to create supportive environments where workers and others could seek counselling and emotional support without stigma.
“A productive workplace is not one that exhausts people; it is one that enables people to give their best without losing themselves,” she said.
On disease prevention, the vice-chancellor called for regular medical screenings, healthy diets, physical activity and avoidance of harmful substances.
She also urged policymakers to mainstream workplace wellness into institutional policies, budgets and leadership practices.
In her lecture, Akin-Olugbemi highlighted the growing burden of hypertension and lifestyle-related diseases in Nigeria, noting that hypertension prevalence in the country stood at about 30 per cent.
She said that the number of Nigerians aged 20 years and above living with hypertension was projected to rise from 20.8 million in 2010 to 39.1 million by 2030.
The medical expert advocated free or subsidised blood pressure screening, increased health literacy and regular physical activity to reduce disease risks.
According to her, workplace wellness programmes benefit individuals, organisations and communities through improved quality of life, increased productivity and healthier societies.
Akin-Olugbemi disclosed that LASUED and Pennsylvania State University had formalised an international partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding.
She said that the partnership was to promote educational excellence and faculty and student exchange as well as global research collaboration.
She commended the leadership of LASUED for supporting staff and students through wellness initiatives.(NAN) www.nannews.ng
Edited by Ijeoma Popoola
