From Ola Muhammad, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi Government, the Emir of Gwandu Emirate, Alhaji Muhammad Illiyasu Bashar, and development partners have urged parents and all stakeholders to team up to eradicate the polio virus in the state.
They stated this during an event to mark the 2026 World Polio Day (WPD) at the Emir of Gwandu’s palace.
While speaking at the event, the Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Muhammad Iliyasu-Bashar, explained that the vaccination of children was meant to shield them from child-killer diseases.
The monarch, who was represented by the Wazirin Gwandu, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar-Waziri, described polio as a deadly disease and insisted that it still remained a preventable disease.
According to him: “Polio is preventable through vaccination, hence the need for parents, traditional institutions, development partners and all other stakeholders to join hands in support of vaccination exercises.
“We must protect our children from child-killer diseases to ensure healthy children, thereby guaranteeing a brighter future.
“A single child infected with the polio virus can transmit it to 100 others; therefore, it is imperative for all to join hands to eradicate the menace.
“The future of any nation lies in the ability of its present generation to raise healthy and educated children,” the emir said.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed, in his remarks charged all stakeholders to come together to fight the disease.
The commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Culture, Alhaji Alkasim Gunabi, appreciated the emirate for its support to polio programmes and other interventions in the state.
In a welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Alhaji Abubakar Muhammad-Noma, said October 24 of every year had been set aside to commemorate the eradication of the polio virus.
Noma, who was represented by Abubakar Muhammad, the Acting State Health Educator, observed that polio either kills the victim or inflicts permanent deformity on the child.
He noted that one of the activities of the day was to enlighten the public that “polio is preventable through immunisation,” while identifying collective action as critical to effectively fighting the disease.
Noma therefore appealed to religious and traditional leaders, development partners, parents and all other stakeholders to put all hands on deck to eradicate the menace.
He also appealed to parents to present their children to polio vaccinators during routine immunisation and to encourage their wives to visit the nearest health facilities for antenatal care and vaccination to ensure a polio-free society.
In his goodwill message, the State Lead, UNICEF, Kebbi, Sheikh Suheel, observed that “everybody is important as far as polio is concerned.”
According to him, the spread of the disease has drastically reduced because polio victims are now mostly adults.
“Presently, polio victims are mostly adults. You hardly find them among younger people,” he said.
The State Coordinator, Rotary International, Aminu Usman-Mashanu, disclosed that in 2020, Nigeria was declared a polio-free nation but the virus later resurfaced.
Mashanu said that was what necessitated extra efforts and a renewed approach to totally eradicate the disease.