By Asmau Ahmad
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, said the traditional rulers in the northern part of Nigeria are working to
ensure the total eradication of polio in the country.
Sultan Sa’ad who spoke through the State Chairman, Northern Traditional Leaders Committee (NTLC), on Polio and Routine
Immunisations, Alhaji Aliyu Attahiru, in Sokoto at the ongoing four-day Polio immunisation exercise, said similar efforts are also being intensified by the traditional rulers to bolster demand for healthcare delivery services.
He added that such efforts to end polio would be sustained due to the resurgence of polio in Borno state recently.
“The NTLC has representatives of all the traditional rulers in the north and they are working in harmony. They meet quarterly to review
the progress, strengths and weaknesses of the polio campaign in the region.
“This is a view to share notes, surmount the challenges and take formidable steps to ensure the success of the fight against polio and
other child-killer diseases,” the Sultan said.
He further said the NTLC in the state had set up various subcommittees on various aspects of healthcare delivery, as well as other health
challenges, which he noted to include the reduction of maternal and child mortality, malaria and routine immunisation, among others.
The Sultan restated that oral polio vaccine was safe and its administration on the children was not prohibited by Islam. Therefore,
he appealed to parents to allow their children to be immunised against polio and other child killer ailments.
He said: “We have been organising community dialogue sessions in areas where few cases of the oral polio vaccine were recorded. Intensive social mobilisation campaigns have also been embarked upon to increase the acceptance of the OPV and other health services.
“All these are being done all in the bid to safeguard the future and lives of the children and to make them useful to themselves and the nation.”
