Cancer: Food Expert counsels Nigerians On Healthy Eating, Drinking

By Patrick Titus, Uyo

Eating healthy food is not costly but treating aliments caused by eating unhealthy food or drinking unhealthy drinks is costly and even more, a Food Scientist, Mrs Idara Emmanuel Okon posited as she advised Nigerians on avoidance of cancer.

Mrs Okon who studied Food Science from the University of Uyo, offered the advice during the graduation ceremony of 2026 Batch ‘A’ Students of IDYJAY Kitchen Culinary School in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Friday.

She argued that cancer related aliments in the country are simply caused by random consumption of bad foods and drinks by Nigerians.

“I am urging Nigerians and indeed the general public to try as much as possible not to eat food randomly, even water because what you take in will either make or destroy you if it was wrongly taken.

“Increase Incidences of Cancer issues, such as cancer of the head, cancer of the lung, cancer of the eyes etc. that are being reported in the hospitals are simply because of what you eat into your system.

“If you eat unhealthy foods or drink unhealthy drinks, you will end up fast forwarding your death by having a whole lot of health issues as a result of destroying your system.

“It is not actually costly to eat a healthy food or drink a healthy drink but it costly, even more to be in the hospital to treat yourself of one ailment or the other. So you can safe yourself all that by eating and drinking what is healthy,” she advised.

Mrs Okon, who is the Managing Director of IDYJAY Kitchen Culinary School, said that the vision of establishing the institute was not only to train people to become entrepreneurs but how to produce and serve what is healthy for the society.

“Here we have enough skills that we train our students in a lot of things. We train them on food safety, we train them on food hazards, we train them on food presentations, we train them on food quality and standards so that when they go into the labour market they can independently guided with standard, produce what is healthy for the society.

“In this field, certificate do not really count, it is what you can do on your own when you graduate is what counts most because if you go for a job interview, you will be interviewed practically on what you can do.

“The certificate which certifies that the bearer has attained a professional training is just 20 percent worth while what you professionally can do account for 80 per cent of who you are,” the MD emphasized.

She charged the graduating students to remain ambassadors of the school wherever they find themselves by maintaining the standards.

“As you are graduating today into the labour market, I charge you to maintain your quality and standards. Don’t manipulate your way because when you manipulate your way, you are manipulating the consumers’ health. Ensure that you put taste first in all your productions. Above all, reference God as the ultimate in knowledge to ensure success,” the MD added.

In a valedictory speech, outgoing Batch ‘A’ class representative, Miss Wonderful-love Israel Emmanuel, who described IDYJAY Kitchen Culinary School as the best place to be, expressed joy that their periods of training at the school had been fruitful as they now have a beautiful future to hold onto.

“Today marks the end of our beautiful journey and the beginning of a fruitful future. When we first stepped into IDYJAY Kitchen Culinary School, we came in with a passion and curiosity to learn a trade that will empower us to become entrepreneur.

“Today, we have the deeper understanding of the art and science of food. We have learned that cooking is not just about the ingredients and recipes but about patience, discipline, resilience and love to create meals that bring joy to others,” she noted.

She expressed gratitude to the management of the school as well as their tutors for the impactful knowledge gained.

IDYJAY Kitchen Culinary School, established in 2022, and operating in partnership with Food Safety, London Professional School, is one of the best catering schools in Akwa Ibom State.

Highlights of the event include exhibitions of products by the graduating students and the presentation of certificate of competence to them by the MD of the school, Mrs Idara Emmanuel Okon, with the assistance of her husband.