President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday promised that his administration will do all within its powers to ensure that no Nigerian child is ever infected with poliomyelitis again.
A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted the President as speaking at a brief event organised to mark Nigeria’s successful completion of one year without any reported case of the wild polio virus held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Buhari further pledged that the Federal Government would mobilise and deploy all necessary resources to efficiently complete the task of eradicating polio from the country.
He therefore called on all stakeholders to ensure that every new born child is vaccinated against the virus.
“Today, 25th of July, 2015, Nigeria has successfully completed one year without any case reported of the wild polio virus.
“Achieving this feat has placed us firmly on the path to eradicating this paralysing disease from our land.
“I seize this opportunity to call on state governors, our traditional and religious leaders, the private sector and our mothers and fathers to redouble their efforts to ensure that every child and every new born baby is vaccinated with the polio vaccine and other life saving routine vaccines,” The President was quoted as saying.
Buhari thereafter personally vaccinated one of his grandchildren against polio at the occasion.
The gesture was meant to demonstrate his commitment to eradicating the virus from Nigeria as well as the safety and efficacy of the polio vaccine.
He thanked all Nigerians and foreign partners who have supported the country’s polio eradication programme in several ways.
He said he looked forward to the formal declaration of Nigeria as a polio-free country in 2017.