By Becky John
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Saturday, urged Nigerians to support the current efforts by federal and state governments, as well as other stakeholders to eradicate polio in Nigeria. The Sultan made the call at the inauguration of the four-day Injectable Polio Vaccination campaign organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the Gidan-Igwai area of Sokoto city in the state. Represented by the District Head of Hamma’Ali, Alhaji Bello Abubakar, the Sultan said “the polio vaccine has been certified to be safe for children.
“This exercise will certainly boost the last minute efforts to wipe out the debilitating disease from Nigeria soon and have Nigeria certified polio-free.
“We should not endanger the lives of our children by refusing them to be administered with the polio vaccine.
“The Injectable Polio Vaccine is very safe for children, just like the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV).’’
The Chairman of Sokoto North Local Government, Alhaji Aminu Ibrahim, pledged to do everything possible to ensure that targeted number of children were immunised. No fewer than 240,000 children aged between 3-59 months are being targeted in the three councils.
The WHO had set up 411 health camps for the purpose of the exercise, each with no fewer than 10 health personnel, including community and religious leaders.
