Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says Nigeria has sustained attack against polio virus to ensure that the new infections are not recorded.
He said; “The Nigerian government of Nigeria, especially in the past couple of years, has taken it very seriously indeed which explains why now we have an end to polio.”
Professor Osinbajo stated this on Thursday when he received Nigerian adventurer, Kunle Adeyanju, who undertook a bike ride of 12,000 kilometers from London to Lagos.
Adeyanju embarked on the adventure to draw attention to the need to continue the fight against polio in Africa.
Professor Osinbajo received Adeyanju and members of his bikers’ club at his official residence, the Akinola Aguda House, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Crafty disease
Describing polio as “a very crafty disease,” Professor Osinbajo warned that “when you think you have conquered it, if you are not careful, if you are complacent, it will come back, very quickly.”
The VP said that the National Economic Council, which he chairs, has also made polio a central public health issue.
He said; “Which means that every year, and sometimes, even twice in a year, we have a committee which deals with polio alone.
“The World Health Organisation and several other organisations, including local organisations will come and give us a report on the status of the drive against polio in the country and so, it keeps us well-informed.”
Commending Adeyanju for embarking on the adventure, Vice President Osinbajo explained that only the Nigerian spirit would push one to complete the journey despite the risks and the difficulties he encountered.
Polio funding
Kunle Adeyanju appealed to the Vice President to use his offices to support the funding of polio programmes in Nigeria.
He said; “If we continue to do nothing, the virus will come back and if comes back, all the good work we have done in the last 30 years will go down the drain.”
Warning against complacency, Adeyanju said that though Nigeria and other African countries have been certified polio free, efforts must be made to ensure that new cases of the virus are prevented.
He said; “When people become complacent, we lose focus, quality drops and when quality drops, a surprise is just round the corner.
“That is why we are beginning to see incidences of polio in Malawi; Cote d’Ivoire on the 16th and 19th of June they declared two-day national immunization days because they discovered polio.
“I was in Lome last week. Lome too has discovered polio and they have started their national polio immunization. It is because when we got the polio certification, everybody relaxed.
“But the danger is still there. It is still a clear and present danger. We need to do something. We need to end the disease; we need to continue the immunization so that we can actually put an end to polio.
“If we continue to do nothing, the virus will come back and if comes back, all the good work we have done in the last 30 years will go down the drain.”
Adeyanju also relived the bike ride from London to Lagos during which he traversed 13 countries.
He recounted an experience in a Diboli, a town in Mali, which deepened in him the essence of African hospitality.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
