The Sultan of Sokoto and president general of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubukar III, has appealed to parents in Northern Nigeria to bring their children out for the June cycle of polio immunisation.
Speaking through the District Head of Bodinga local government, AbdulRauf Bello, during the flag-off of the June 2025 Outbreak Response Campaign on Immunisation for Polio-Virus Type 2, CVPV2, in Sokoto, the Sultan promised his support for any initiative geared towards ensuring the well-being and good health of the citizenry.
He said it costs less to prevent than to cure, so he urged parents to accept and comply with the polio vaccination to ensure that no child suffers.
Flagging off the National Immunisation Day in the state, Governor Ahmed Aliyu, represented by his deputy, Mohammed Idris Gobir, thanked donor agencies for their efforts in healthcare service delivery.
The governor noted that the state was progressing steadily in healthcare delivery and immunisation. He stressed that they were also stepping up efforts to interrupt the persistent transmission of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVPV2) in the state.
He appealed for continued collaboration to address the challenge and build a more resilient healthcare system.
In his welcome address, Chairman of Shagari local government, Maidawa Kajiji, represented by his deputy, Mansur Rafi, said flagging off the June round of 2025 polio in their domain was a great honour and a call to action for all of them. He added that they would ensure that all residents complied accordingly.
For his part, the state Commissioner of Health, Umar Faruk Abubakar, said all necessary logistics for a hitch-free exercise had been implemented.
In their respective goodwill messages, Dr Claude Kacil Monj the UNICEF SBC Polio Team Lead, and the Sokoto State Coordinator of World Health Organization, Dr Yusuf Mohammed Argungu as well as the representative of Bill Gates Foundation, Dr Shazad Banj, all expressed satisfaction with the development, adding they were committed to a world without polio, thus appealing to parents to ensure that their wards are immunised against killer diseases.
