Ini Billie, Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has begun the construction of a state-of-the-art fitness centre at its headquarters in Ikot Akpanabia, Uyo.
The foundation laying ceremony of the centre which will consist of two sections: one for officers (consisting of a hair saloon) and another for rank and file, was laid on Friday in Uyo by Governor Udom Emmanuel who was represented by the governor-elect, Pastor Umo Eno.
Speaking during the foundation laying event, Pastor Umo Eno paid glowing tributes to the security agencies for keeping the state safe and said the police needed a place to relax after carrying out their constitutional duty of protecting and securing the lives and property of the people.
Eno, who pledged to support the construction of the fitness centre with N5 million, promised to work with the police for a better and secured Akwa Ibom State when he becomes governor.
“A lot of our security people have paid the supreme price to keep our country safe. I believe we will be able to top up the game and give them a lot of recognition, in other climes where security agents enter anywhere, they wish to go in their uniform, get preferential treatment, being clapped for in recognition of their roles.
“You think that security operatives are doing very badly, let them go on strike for two hours, and then you will know that there is a problem, but we want to thank you.
“For those of us in the business world, this is what we call the ‘happy hour.’ Businesses are talked about in a relaxed environment, in the gym, on the golf course, or any other exercises,” he stated.
Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police, Olatoye Durosinmi, noted that he has worked to give the police headquarters a face-lift since his assumption of office 10 months ago.
Durosinmi stated that the fitness centre was conceived to enable busy police personnel to relax and keep fit as they serve the people. He noted that the construction of the fitness centre was nothing out of place.
“I came in here 10 months ago and I found out that I have to uplift whatever we have on the ground. That gave me the vision to have a hall and beautify the environment. What we have here is a fitness centre. I discover that most times, policemen work from morning till night at the divisional and headquarters level.
“We need to make sure that, at least, 30 minutes or one hour each day we have where we go for the necessary exercise. We will employ a coach and bring-in the state-of-the-art machines to work with. In other parts of the world, each headquarters is fitted with something like this, not only a fitness centre but also an underground firing ground where personnel test their capacities in firing.
“It is not a thing out of place to have a fitness centre here; so, every Wednesday, everyone in the command, especially in the city would be compelled to come here, after jogging around this place, we would do one or two things around here with the help of the coach,” he stated. The fitness centre is named Udom Emmanuel Fitness Centre, built to commemorate the 13th Biennial Games meeting in Akwa Ibom State.