Speaking during the monitoring of the vaccination exercise in Ningi Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, Chief of UNICEF's Field Office, Bauchi, lauded the Emirs for actively participating in the advocacy of the polio vaccine uptake in the state.
Represented by Mr Eki George, UNICEF’s Social Behaviour Change Specialist, Rafique acknowledged that the role the traditional rulers would play to ensure massive vaccine compliance and uptake could not be overemphasised.
“It is a welcome development to see our royal fathers taking up the leadership role in leading our communities to do the right thing.
“We are indeed very grateful as we have sought for their roles in this campaign and here they are with us to ensure that our children are all vaccinated.
“We appreciated the presence of the traditional rulers during these monitoring exercises and this 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.
Also speaking, Alh. Othman Usman, Emir of Dass, said that the traditional institutions in the state were very committed to ensure that polio is completely eradicated in Bauchi state this time around.
The First Class Emir, 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.
“We are here to sensitise the people of these communities to ensure that the health workers can be able to access each and every household to be able to vaccinate all the eligible children in these communities,” he said.
The Emir also explained that they had been working closely with some Malams and Imams who had been resisting the vaccine in the past, adding that they have all accepted it.
“It's a very good effort and In-Sha-Allah, we are going to see 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.
The Emir of Dass was accompanied by the Emir of Ningi, Alh. Haruna Danyaya and some religious and community leaders.
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