President Muhammadu Buhari has met with Governors of Polio vulnerable states in Nigeria, reaffirming the government’s commitment to ensuring that Nigeria is finally certified ‘polio-free’ by 2017.
He urged all Nigerians to join hands with the Federal Government to achieve the objective.
At separate meetings with the governors and members of the high-level advocacy group held on Monday, President Buhari stressed that to become permanently polio-free, Nigeria must build on its achievement of being polio-free for 12 months which was marked in July.
The President said that he had initiated the meetings with the governors and advocacy group members because Nigeria could not afford a reversal of what had been achieved after 17 years of the polio eradication programme in Nigeria.
He urged the governors to diligently supervise the Polio Eradication Programme in their states and join the Federal Government in ensuring that the required resources were provided and efficiently utilised to achieve the desired result.
President Buhari assured the governors and advocacy group members that his administration would continue to give the required leadership towards Nigeria’s final Polio-free certification through the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
The representative of the World Health Organization in Nigeria, Dr. Rui Gam Gaz, who was at the meeting, praised the strong political support for the eradication of polio in Nigeria.
The Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, and other governors pledged their commitment to the programmes to eradicate polio.