Driven by the need to offer fresh opportunities for urban dwellers to access the best of facilities to keep a healthy lifestyle, i-Fitness, the fastest growing fitness chain recently opened West Africa’s largest fitness outlet in Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos.
“We are happy because it is just an opportunity. We feel that the more we open locations and make fitness affordable, convenient, and fun, it would attract a lot of people. We are happy to register our presence in almost all urban locations in Nigeria,” said Foluso Ogunwale, founder and managing director, i-Fitness, stating that the outlet was inspired by the need to create a rare opportunity for Nigerians to embrace a wellness culture.
According to him, it became imperative to establish the company in 2015 to address the alarming rate of death caused by non-communicable diseases. He explained that a 2021 global report from World Health Organisation (WHO) had estimated death arising from non-communicable diseases globally to be about 71 percent noting that this was a wake-up call that led to the planting of fitness chains across Lagos.
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He further revealed that the target of the company in the next five years is to ensure that fitness chains take root globally stating that plans are already in the pipeline to launch a Digital fitness that will be accessible to everyone around the world. Accordingly, he disclosed that prior to the Ogba outlet; the company launched an outlet along the Lekki Jakande expressway axis of Lagos.
Michael Ikpoki, the chairman of the board, said that the company is extremely excited about opening the new outlet given that it is the 15th branch in Lagos. According to him, the focus in setting up a new fitness location is aimed at providing opportunities for more Nigerians to access best-in-class gym facilities adding that it would continue to improve on quality as it rolls out more outlets.
“At i-fitness, we are driven by the mantra, live healthier, live happier. The purpose of this company is to enable more Nigerians to live a healthier and happier life. So, if you have a healthier life, you are bound to be happy. For every outlet we open, we try to improve standards or raise the bar in terms of structure, appeal, look, or ambiance,” said Ikpoki, stressing that the company will continue to play its part in creating jobs and contributing to the Lagos economy through the establishment of more fitness outlets.
