Nigeria Backs India To Promote Yoga At UN – High Commissioner

Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Shri G. Balasubramanian, has said that Nigeria was among the countries that supported India at the United Nations to recognise Yoga as an international event in 2014.

The envoy said this in an interview with reporters during this year’s Yoga Day celebration at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Saturday with the theme “Yoga for Self and Society”.

Yoga is a very ancient tradition of India because it has been in practice for over millennia and it is an exercise basically for physical well –being and mental happiness and health, which improves the brain function.  It contains simple exercises of which one does  not need a lot of help.

In 2014 the Indian Prime Minister requested  the United Nation to recognize Yoga as an international event and the   United Nations passed a Resolution , which  declared that 21st of June every year be observed as International Day of Yoga.

The Indian envoy noted that 177 countries supported the Resolution.

He said “Nigeria was among the main sponsors of the Resolution and since then from 2014, we have been having International Day of Yoga throughout the world and this year is the 10th International Day of Yoga.

“With the simple exercise a person can live a healthy life even at old age. Yoga is considered India’s gift to humanity. We are very happy to introduce Yoga to our friends in Nigeria and we do have free classes of Yoga in the High Commission. All are welcome to join and practice Yoga’’ he said.

The envoy commended the Ministry of sports and the Nigerian government for the support he has received since he arrived Nigeria in 2022.  He noted that more Nigerians are developing interest in Yoga, stressing that last year’s exercise attracted about 1,700 while the Yoga event for this had more than 2000 people attending.

In his remarks during the event, Nigeria’s Minister of Sports, John Eno said Yoga is a platform to improve the relations between Nigeria and India. He said further that Yoga is spiritual because it has something to do with the state of the mind, adding that it is a measure of possibilities available to the human being.

The event attracted top government officials, members of the diplomatic community in Nigeria and sports loving Nigerians who trooped out in their numbers to participate in the exercise.