BMW Club Nigeria Takes Awareness Campaign on Prostate Cancer to the World by Road

Emma Okonji

BMW Club Nigeria, in collaboration with ‘Lagos to the World’, is set to break records by taking an awareness campaign on prostate cancer to the rest of the world, beginning from Nigeria by road, using a BMW car.

The campaign, which started from Lagos, brought together members of the club and the public to check their health status on prostate cancer, for early detection and treatment. The health campaign also covers body mass index checks, weights, blood pressure, and sugar level.

Founder, ‘Lagos to the World’ and driver of the initiative, Mr. Eric Nwagwu, who spoke during the health awareness campaign in Lekki, Lagos, said the initiative was borne out of a research that he carried out recently, and for the memories of his late mother, Professor Nwankwo, and his late sister, Onyema Eseka, that died of cancer.

According to him, “From the research, I found that one out of seven African men is going to die from prostate cancer. And when I looked at what was going on, and I felt, let me contribute my own part because the problem is the fear of screening. Many men fear to carry out tests on their health status, hence the collaboration with BMW Club Nigeria to raise awareness.

“Lagos to the World set this up with our partners, Zuri Health, Axa Mansard Insurance, STUDIO24, and BMW Club Nigeria, which I belong to,” Nwagwu said.

According to Nwagwu, former President Olusegun Obasanjo will flag off the programme on May 31 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and thereafter he will begin the journey to the world with his BMW car, raising awareness of prostate cancer disease in each country where he will stop for official welcoming by members of BMW Club in that country.

“The expedition is in three stages. Stage one is Lagos to Accra. Stage two, I’ll come back, then I’ll go to Senegal and return back to Nigeria. Stage three is to Europe and the rest of the world. While going around the world I will also be propagating the men’s health campaign on prostate cancer. So I will go round the world beginning from Nigeria in five months by road with my BMW car.

So from Lagos to Accra in Ghana, there will be outreach in Accra with our BMW Club members to create an awareness campaign on prostate cancer. Then I’ll come back. Then around August or September, I’ll go to Senegal and do the same outreach campaign in Senegal. While on the trip, I will stop in Cotonou, Lomé, Abidjan, Freetown, and in Guinea, and Dakar, then Banjul in Gambia. In each of the stops, we will have the outreach campaign in collaboration with our BMW Club members. Then after that trip, I will return back to Nigeria, before embarking on the third stage to the rest of the world,” Nwagwu said.

We’ll ferry the car into Spain. I’ll get into France, because I have to go to the UK. So I’ll stay in the UK for about three or four days. I’ll now take the tunnel back to France, and I’ll cross Europe, Germany, and Poland. I’ll enter either Lithuania, Latvia, and I’ll enter Russia. In Russia, I’ll go the Trans-Siberian Highway all the way to Vladivostok. There’s no shipping service between Vladivostok and Alaska.
The car should have gone to Alaska, but I’m going to have to send it to Vancouver in Canada. And from Vancouver, I’ll now drive across to Toronto, then I’ll go to New York. And all in each of the stops, there will be campaign on men’s health,” Nwagwu added.

President, BMW Club, Nigeria, Mr. Theodore Sammouris, who welcomed the initiative, said Eric Nwagwu had a bold initiative to go round the world in five months by road using his BMW car, while raising awareness campaign on prostate cancer. According to him, the BMW Club Nigeria will support him to succeed in the great expedition.

Vice President, BMW Club Nigeria, Mr. Oladapo Aiyegbayo, said: “The Guinness Book of Record needs to document this bold initiative. We are having this media parley, and at the same time, we’re having pictures, videos, to prove what you are doing. So by the time we write the Guinness Book of Record with all the evidence, it will surely make history.”

Chief Medical Officer at Zuri Health, Dr. Uzodinma Umeh, said the partnership between Zuri Health and ‘Lagos to the World’ would help to strengthen the initiative and the expedition to go round the world in five months, while promoting health awareness among people.

“It’s a very big ambition and goal. It’s that kind of goal that, you know, can only come out from Lagos,” Umeh said.

Head, Marketing at Axa Mansard Insurance Plc, Olusesan Ogunyooye, said the initiative would benefit the society, hence the need to partner ‘Lagos to the World’.

“We are partnering because we want to associate with the initiative of saving lives. Prostate cancer is dangerous especially to men. The partnership is therefore a call for inclusive protection,” Ogunyooye said.