9th August, 2023
By Ishaq Zaki/Gusau
Zamfara state in northwest Nigeria has become the epicentre of polio virus cases, recording about 50 percent of the cases logged in the country.
This was revealed by the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Isma’ila Mera, who represented the Sultan of Sokoto at a meeting Tuesday in Gusau, the capital.
The meeting was organised by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), in collaboration with Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development.
The Emir described the high rate of polio virus cases in the state as alarming.
According to him, from January to date, 21 polio cases were recorded in the state, the figure being almost half of the total cases in the country,
Out of the 21 cases , seven were recorded in Gusau local government area, six in Maradun, five in Gummi, two in Maru and one in Bungudu.
“As I am speaking to you, with these figures, Zamfara becomes the epicentre of polio virus in the whole Africa.
“Most of these cases were recorded in the inaccessible communities in the state due to insecurity.
“This is very unfortunate; as traditional rulers, we will not allow ugly things to continue,” he explained.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, in a message delivered by the Emir called on traditional leaders in Zamfara to redouble their commitment toward polio eradication in the state.
He called on traditional rulers in the state to always ensure that every child in their domain is vaccinated against polio.
“We invited you in this meeting to discuss extensively on ways forward to addressing the challenges.
“Therefore, we are expecting positive changes from the meeting,” he added.
The Sultan commended the commitments of Gov. Dauda Lawal’s effort toward polio eradication,
“The governor has expressed readiness to work with us towards polio eradication,” he said.
In his remarks, the Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuiab, said the meeting was focused on delivering polio vaccines to eligible children in inaccessible settlements.
Shuiab, represented by the Incident Manager, National Polio Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Dr Abdulkadir Gana, said the goal of the meeting was to stop the transmission of the circulating variant poliovirus type 2 by December of 2023.
The World Health Organisation in 2020 declared Nigeria wild poliovirus free.
However, the circulating Variant Polio Virus2 (cVPV2) strain transmission continues.
In 2022 alone, Nigeria reported 168 cases, WHO said.