‘Remembering Tomorrow’, a 3D animated videos, has premiered in Lagos, with unveiling passing salient messages, especially from a ‘Lesson at an Obalende Buka’.
Now released on many platforms including, BRT buses, cinema houses, online television, traditional television, the video which premiered on June 21, 2024, is a brain health message from the Gabi Williams Alzheimer’s Foundation (GWAF).
The premiere, according to the foundation, is timely as June is a month dedicated to raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and promoting brain health.
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Speaking on the rationale for the video premiere, Ola Olaniyan Peter, senior officer, Gabi Williams Alzheimer’s Foundation, noted that the animations are aimed at raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and promoting brain health in Nigeria.
Hence, June, the Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month, according to her, serves as an opportunity for the foundation to educate Nigerians, support those affected by the disease, and take proactive steps to maintain optimal brain health.
The premiere, which held at The Church of the Resurrection, 1004 Easte, Victoria Island Lagos, also witnessed keynote lecture on Dementia and Brain Health by experts including Olajide Gabi-Williams, a renowned US-based neurologist, professor at Columbia University Teaching Hospital and board secretary of GWAF.
Favour Oziegbe Oghide, a consultant family physician at LUTH with a special interest in geriatric medicine, Kunle Adewale of Arts in Medicine, among others.
At the event, Adewale reminded the audience how art has an important and even urgent function in the healing of the body and mind. According to him, dance is particularly valuable in the healing journey of the mind and the body.
Rasheed Ibrahim, a dancer, also thrilled the participants with his immersive dance, which offered interpretions to ones brain and mental health journey.
Earlier in his welcome address, Olatoun Gabi-Williams, a trustee of GWAF, noted that the foundation was inaugurated on September 11, 2017 to honour the life and work of Dr. Gabi Williams, a public health pioneer, who, 10 years earlier, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease – a type of Dementia.
He explained that though Alzheimer’s a degenerative disease of the brain, it is not limited to elders, as it afflicts the ageing in disproportionate numbers.
“As we join the fight to prevent, manage and ultimately, treat Alzheimer’s, an emphasis on this demographic, the ageing, is justified. As I just said, Alzheimer’s Disease is a disease of the brain. It leads loss of memory and thinking skills and ultimately it leads to an inability to carry out all the basic functions needed for daily living,”he explained.
The event was graced by many dignitaries including Abisola Gabi-Williams, widow of the late Gabi Williams in whose honour GWAF was inaugurated.
Meanwhile, the GWAF Brain Health & Healthy Ageing Outreaches is a flagship project of the foundation.
