By Muhammad Amaan
The Chief Imam of Borno State, Imam Lisu Ibrahim Ahmed has pledged to support the state Zero Dose Learning Hub Community of Practice (CoP) on immnunization budget tracking, accountability and sustainability in its ongoing advocacy to address the burden of Zero Dose Children and improve immunization services in the state.
The pledge was made by the state chief imam when he received members of Borno State CoP led by Mallam Ali Yerima Gamboru, Chairman of the CoP sub-committe on youth, traditional and media.
This was contained in a statement issued by Borno State Focal Person for the Zero Dose Learning Hub (ZDLH), Dr Adamu Alhassan.
The team lead briefed the religious leader about the ZDLH project and its implementation in the state with Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Jere LGAs as target LGAs and the role of the CoP in the project.
Similarly, Mallam Isma’il Auwal, AFENET Borno State Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (M&E) highlighted the significant progress achieved since the inception of the project and called on the traditional leader to support the drive by making relevant comments on immnunization that will influence the populace towards dispelling myths and misconceptions about immunization thereby addressing vaccine hesitancy and improve vaccine uptake.
In his response, the chief imam thanked the team for identifying with the religious institutions in the state and pledged to do the best he can to create awareness on the importance of immunization to other religious leaders.
He equally committed to advance the awareness to other forums of religious leaders so that there will be a uniform chain of messages aimed at addressing the zero dose issue in the state.
The imam further called on the CoP to continuously update him on progresses and challenges regarding the immunization finances and vaccine acceptance by the community.
In similar development, the Chairman of the Borno State Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has also pledged to support the CoP in its advocacy towards increase in immunization finances, accountability and sustainability in the state.
The pledge was made by the CAN Chairman, Bishop John Bogna Bakeni when he received members of the CoP on an advocacy visit to his office on Sunday, 9th November 2024.
The cleric, while appreciated and thanked the team for the visit and pledged to be a Zero Dose Ambassador in the state and assured his organization’s willingness and readiness to partner with the CoP in areas of awareness creation to other clerics and the congregation whenever the need arises.
Both visits ended up with a prayers for the ZDLH project to succeed in the state so that no single child will be left behind with vaccine uptake in all communities.
The Gavi funded ZDLH project is being implemented in Nigeria by AFENET/AHBN consortium in Bauchi, Borno, Kano and Sokoto States.
