By David Lawani
The District Governor of Rotary International District 9127, Adetona Owonikoko, has expressed confidence that the global fight against polio can be won, urging Nigerians to ensure that their children are fully immunised against the disease.
Owonikoko spoke on Wednesday in Abuja during the unveiling of three polio sensitisation billboards at strategic locations by the district, Rotary Club of Abuja Metro and friends of the district.
He said Rotary International’s EndPolioNow campaign had helped save more than 20 million children from paralysis since the organisation intensified its anti-polio campaign in 1985.
“With the commitment of Rotary International since 1985, we have shown that the war against polio is winnable. It is a disease we have proved to the world can be eradicated,” he said.
Owonikoko urged Rotarians not to relent until polio is completely eradicated globally, while calling on Nigerians to take advantage of immunisation programmes to protect their children.
He also urged district members to use World Polio Day on October 24 to intensify advocacy and public awareness of the importance of vaccination.
“We have saved more than 20m children from paralysis. As we mark this year’s World Polio Day, we should rededicate ourselves to immunisation of children,” he said.
The Rotary governor noted that polio remained endemic in only two countries, stressing that sustained commitment was required to achieve complete eradication.
President of the Rotary Club of Abuja Metro, Michael Oluwagbemi, said public awareness remained crucial to sustaining the fight against the disease.
“What we are doing here is raising awareness of the effects of polio. And you know communication is 90 per cent of the job,” he said.
Oluwagbemi said the billboards would serve as reminders that the campaign against polio was not yet over.
“We want to present these billboards as reminders that our work is not yet done until we eradicate the disease completely such that in the next 100 or 200 years, humanity will talk about it as history not as something active. Then our job is sorted,” he said.
