Rotary Urges Nigerians to Team Up against Polio

Martins Ifijeh

The Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metropolitan, Lagos, has called on Nigerians to team up against elimination of poliomyelitis in the country.

In the last two years, Nigeria has not recorded any polio case, however, she is not yet certified a-polio free country by the World Health Organisation (WHO) until after three full years without any incident.

According to the international standard and requirement, if Nigeria is able to sustain the campaign and maintain a clean record till 2017, the country would be officially certified polio free, leaving behind Afghanistan and Pakistan as the only countries of the world not polio free.

As part of efforts to maintain the tempo against the disease in Nigeria, the Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metropolis, last weekend, during the installation of its new President, Mrs. Florence Fayikemi Ayoola-Egbeyemi, vowed to do everything within its power to ensure that Nigeria sustains the progress recorded so far against the dreaded disease.

Emphasising the need for all hands to be on deck, the Chairperson, Rotary Foundation, Mrs. Ify Rita Ejezie, said the club could not have achieved such feat, but for the voluntary donations from people across the world to halt further spread of the disease.

She stated that millions of children across the globe, especially in Africa and Asia, had been dealt with by the disease, which prompted the club to kick-start the campaign through sensitisation and vaccination, adding that it was not yet time to celebrate until Nigeria was given a clean bill of health by the world health body.

The new President, Ayoola-Egbeyemi, pledged to continue to give the fight against polio high priority.

Apart from prosecuting the war against polio through huge monetary donations to the foundation by Bill Gate, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Emeka Ofor and host of others, she said Rotary also priotised maternal healthcare.

She advised that one doesn’t need to be a millionaire before giving a helping hand to the needy.“Rotary is determined to make the world a better place through voluntary donations. Our focus is to provide quality services in the areas of healthcare and education. We can do it better together.”

Ayoola-Egbeyemi recalled how the NGO, few months ago, rehabilitated dilapidated equipment at Obalende Primary Health Centre in Lagos, reaffirming that such humanitarian services were what Rotary was known for.