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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Kano governor immunises daughter
AFTER 11 months of consistently opposing the use of vaccine for immunisation of children against polio in Kano State, Governor Ibrahim Shekarau underscored his change of heart by immunising his daughter at the weekend.
The governor's daughter was immunised during the synchronised National Immunisation Day (NID) in Nigeria and other West African countries.
Some other countries involved in the exercise, which is aimed at eradicating wild polio-virus from Africa by 2005 are Cameroun, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic.
Kicking off the ceremony at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano State, President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a stay-at-home order in Nigeria from 6 a.m to 1 p.m on, October 9, 2004. He said this would enable the vaccination team to reach all eligible children in their house to house campain for the immunisation.
He said: "I believe that by God's grace, this will enable us to reach a great number of children in the first day of the implementation of National Immunisation Day"
Obasanjo pointed out that a series of activities was carried out successfully to ensure that Nigerians were fully mobilised before the commencement of the exercise, which aimed at reaching every child.
While urging all state governors, local government chairmen, traditional rulers, and opinion leaders to support the eradication of polio, he appealed to parents to make their children available during the immunisation days.
"Let us come out en-masse to guarantee the success of this exercise, let us receive the vaccination in our homes, schools, churches, mosques, and public places and make our eligible children available for the administration of the oral polio vaccine " said Obasanjo.
Obasanjo also warned Nigerians to make sure that they admit genuine members of the immunisation team into their homes to avoid falling into the hands of fraudsters who may disguise as vaccinators.
"Let us gird ourselves for a polio-free Africa and of course a polio-free Nigeria", Obasanjo stated.
The President noted that he decided to personally kick-off the synchronised National immunisation Day for the purpose of keeping polio out of Nigeria, out of Africa and out of the world.
He then called on Nigerians to fully participate in the exercise by ensuring that their children (from 0 - 59 months) are immunised during the exercise.
The Chairperson of African Union Commission, Dr Alfa Konare promised that the event would be replicated in all African countries to wipe out polio on the continent.
Dr Konare, formerly the president of Mali commended the efforts of the United Nations International Children Educational Fund (UNICEF), European Union (EU), World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners in the fight against polio in Africa.
In his welcome address, Shekarau disclosed that the controversies surrounding the vaccine were over since the vaccines had been certified safe.
The governor pointed out that following the controversy, the state government set up a committee, comprising experts which took the vaccine to South Africa where the safety of the vaccine was confirmed after it was tested.
Shekarau noted that since the end of the controversy, the state government had conducted mop-up exercises, which were carried out in June and July. He revealed that as at last month (September), between 2.1 million and 2.5 million children from the state had been immunised.
He promised that his government would not fail Nigeria and the international community in the effort to eradicate polio in Africa, adding that about N100 million had been spent to support the immunisation programme.
The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero also gave his support. He joined others in urging Nigerians to bring out their children for immunisation.
His words: "Immunisation is the right of every child."
Both the EU, WHO, UNICEF and Rotary Club International were represented at the occasion and all pledged their support for the fight against polio in Nigeria and Africa at large.
While EU Commission in Nigeria pledged N100 billion for the exercise, Rotary Club International also made a donation of drugs worth N5 million to the Kano State government for prevention of child health diseases.
The President of Rotary Club, Chief John Magegbe, who announced the donation pointed out that since 1985, the club has contributed up to N200 million to African countries in the eradication of child health diseases.
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