Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, yesterday, said it was a shame that the state recorded 50 per cent new polio cases in Nigeria, vowing to deploy necessary resources to fight the menace.
Speaking while flagging-off the Polio outbreak response activities in Ilorin, five years after the state government last supported routine polio immunisation programme, Governor Abdulrazaq said: "It is a shame that Kwara has 50 percent of the new outbreak. We shouldn't be dealing with fresh polio cases in this state now. But we will give the necessary supports to put an end to that. I call on Kwarans to join hands with our partners to check the transmission of the virus in the state and Nigeria at large.
"I am appealing to all mothers, caregivers, heads of households, religious bodies, markets and schools to, as a matter of necessity, make all children under five years of age available for the vaccination exercise, irrespective of their previous immunisation status, as the campaign will be conducted as many times as possible.
"It is highly unacceptable and inexcusable for any parent, caregiver or government to watch our future generation being paralysed from a vaccine-preventable disease like Polio."
On his part, Incident Manager of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Usman Adamu, lauded the governor for helping to revive the programme in Kwara State, after five years.
Adamu said Kwara recorded 50 per cent of the new polio cases because the state did not pay the necessary counterpart funds to immunise the children against the disease. He also commended the state governor for establishing various task forces to monitor Kwara's response to the polio emergencies.
Also speaking, Mrs. Jumoke Bamigboye, wife of former Military Administrator of Osun State, Theophilus Bamigboye (retd), commended Abdulrazaq for his prompt response to primary healthcare issues, especially the polio vaccination programme, saying the governor's action "has shown him to be a responsive leader, who cares for the children and the future of the state."
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