Emir of Dutse leads health team to community ‘notoriously’ resisting polio vaccination
By: Ahmed Aminu, Dutse
The Emir of Dutse in Jigawa State, Alhaji Muhammad Hamim Nuhu, has assured Jiba community in the emirate, notorious for rejection of polio vaccine, that allowing their children to be vaccinated was in the best interest of the community.
The Emir, who led a health team and UNICEF officials to the village on Monday, said polio vaccine is safe, and there’s no way government will introduce anything that will harm the citizenry.
The Syndicate reports that Jigawa state is seeking to vaccinate 2,2 million children after the discovery of two cases of wild polio virus in the state.
Alhaji Muhammad Hamim dispelled the misconception surrounding immunisation, saying that the claims regarding the harmful nature of the vaccine were totally false.
“It rather saves lives. We will not approve of something that will harm you. You’re our pride, so anything we bring to you, we believe it is something that will help all of us together,” he added.
He recalled that his late father always ensure that his grandchildren were the first to be immunised during every round of routine immunisation, “just to demonstrate that the vaccine is not harmful”.
His words, “If we’re to show you the pictures of the late emir where he was immunizing the children, he always use my children, that is his grandchildren. Do you think if it is harmful he would zero it on his own grandchildren?
“Also, when the issue of immunisation started, people were saying it was intended to stop women from giving birth. Yet, women who were immunised as children are today giving birth to healthy babies. This goes to show that the claims are false,” the Emir said.
In his speech, the Director, Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Hassan Shuaibu Kwalam said the objective of the immunisation was to eliminate all traces of polio virus in the state.
He expressed regret that although Nigeria was certified polio-free in 2013, the country is now experiencing some variants of the polo virus.
“That is why this campaign is very important because we’re aiming to boost population immunity, scale up the routine exercise.”
The director said house-house teams have been deployed to all the 287 political wards in the state for the vaccination.
The Chairman of Dutse local government area, Dr Sibo Abdullahi said the local council will construct five primary health posts this year, including one in Jiba community.
“The reason for the construction of the primary healthcare post in Jiba is because of their noncompliance.
“We had set up a committee to investigate the reasons for their polio noncompliance, and we found that the people are protesting the non availability of a clinic in the village, which I promised to provide.
“They are now complying and today is a reality because nobody is making any complaint and the number of children is encouraging.”
In his message, Dr Lukman of UNICEF said ending polio and improving children’s survival starts with making sure all children have access to vaccines.
He called for total support including funding to stop polio outbreak, and to reach all children with polio other life-saving vaccines.
