Foundation partners traditional leaders on polio eradication in Kwara
The Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development with the Kwara Government has urged traditional rulers from 16 LGAs of the state to ensure their respective communities accept the polio vaccination.
Supreme news reports that 2025 is the expected deadline for the cessation of funding by donor partners on polio vaccination in the country.
The Emir of Shonga, Dr Haliru Yahaya, gave the directive on Monday in Ilorin at a one-day dissemination workshop for traditional rulers and primary healthcare personnel on polio campaigns.
Yahaya, also the Chairman, Northern Traditional Leaders Committee in Kwara said there was need for the various traditional leaders in the state to increase efforts in supporting polio vaccination in their communities.
He equally enjoined the community leaders to take ownership of the programme by ensuring polio was eradicated from the country.
He advised them to provide dedicated trustworthy volunteer teams, who would carry out the campaign effectively.
The emir noted that earlier strategies employed by the state were unsuccessful as investigations revealed that some volunteer-team allegedly threw away the vaccines or drank the same and then filled in the tally-sheets of the immunisation.
Yahaya condemned such actions, reiterating the need to use every strategy to save the lives of Nigerian children through effective polio vaccinations.
Speaking, Dr Abimbola Folorunsho, the Focal Person for the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee for Kwara, said that the programme was to sensitise traditional rulers to be more committed in polio eradication.
He said that the polio vaccination campaign would commence on June 28 and end July 1.
She said that the community leaders must ensure that they bring candidates from their communities who must show commitment, while also undergoing pre-test and post-test for the job.
“We are running out of time because the partners that are giving us grants for the programme will no longer send funding for polio again.
“We have to do all that is required to ensure no child is missed this time around,” she said.
Folorunsho identified some of the challenges as lack of cooperation from some volunteer-teams, saying that the community leaders would be able to provide better teams who would be more committed to the polio eradication campaign.
She identified language as another critical challenge, especially while communicating with herders in their settlement.
The Administrative Consultant, Traditional Leaders Engagement, Sultan Foundation, Mrs Hyelhirra Mshelia, harped on the need to eradicate the circulating variant polio virus in the country.
She pointed out that with wide coverage of the vaccination, immunity could be achieved to protect the lives of the Nigerian children and others outside the country.
Also speaking, Mr Gidado Ridwan, the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) representative in Kwara, regretted that people were still largely ignorant of the importance of the polio vaccination.
He noted that people demand monetary compensations or food donations before they could allow their children to get vaccinated.
Ridwan warned that there was already donor fatigue by partners, and enjoined the traditional leaders to take ownership of the life-saving campaign.
Speaking on behalf of the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Muhammad Nuhu, Balogun Afin of Ilorin pledged the resolutions of the traditional rulers in showing more commitment on polio eradication.
He said that any parent or family who refused their children to get immunised would be ostracized from the community.
Nuhu added that henceforth no community would allow un-immumised family to live in their domain.
