Contribution to fight against Polio by Bauchi monarchs impresses UNICEF
By Samuel Luka,
Bauchi
The contribution and efforts of Bauchi Emirs and other traditional rulers towards ensuring polio free society in the state have been commended by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The Chief of UNICEF’s Field Office, Bauchi, Dr. Nuzhat Rafique gave the commendation Saturday in Ningi local government area when the fund in partnership with the Bauchi state government mobilized traditional rulers on a monitoring exercise to ensure massive 2025 polio vaccine uptake and compliance in the state.
Dr Rafique who further lauded the Emirs for actively participating in the advocacy for the polio vaccine uptake in the state, acknowledged that the role the traditional rulers would play to ensure massive vaccine compliance and uptake can not be overemphasised.
Dr. Rafique who was represented by Mr Eki George, UNICEF’s Social Behaviour Change Specialist, described the participation of traditional rulers as a welcome development.
“It is a welcome development to see our royal fathers taking up the leadership role in leading our communities to do the right thing”, she stated.
The UNICEF Chief of Field Office Bauchi also expressed appreciation to the royal fathers for their roles in the campaign and as well as their presence during the monitoring tour in Ningi local government to ensure that children are all vaccinated.
She said that the presence of the traditional rulers during the monitoring exercise will definitely encourage and boost the uptake of the polio vaccine, especially by the non-compliance people in the state.
“This is a campaign where we want to ensure that all the zero dose children in the state receive the life saving vaccine as well as ensure that the parents especially, fathers continuously give consent for their children to be vaccinated,” she said.
Rafique expressed UNICEF’s readiness to support all the LGAs, the communities and the state at large in ensuring that all the qualified children are vaccinated and kick out polio from the state and Nigeria in general.
In his remarks, Emir of Dass, Alhaji Othman Usman, said the traditional institution in the state are very committed to ensure that polio is completely eradicated in Bauchi state.
Othman who is the Chairman, Bauchi state Emirate Councils Committee on Health (BASECCOH), said the traditional rulers would be fully involved in the mobilisation of communities, especially the non-compliance for the vaccine uptake.
“There are many communities here that are very known for non-compliance of the polio vaccine and that is why I and the Emir of Ningi have decided to visit the communities by ourselves”, he said.
Alhaji Othman said they were in Ningi to sensitise the people of the communities to ensure that health workers have unhindered access to each and every household to vaccinate all the eligible children.
According to him, with the present approach, the exercise is going to witness a lot of successes because the issue of resistance is now being taken care of.
“Even those Imams that were resisting to some extent before are now with us and one of them just did a symbolic vaccination of some children,” he said.
Our Correspondent reports that the Emir of Dass was accompanied by the Emir of Ningi, Alh. Haruna Danyaya and some religious and community leaders, among others.