In a small village of Unguan Kanawa, Tankarau, Dutsen-Abba Ward, Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State, a tragic reality has sparked a life-saving transformation.
Many residents in the village had lost their children to measles due to their resistance to vaccination.
This true call confession cane to the fore on Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Kaduna at a medical outreach organised by the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board with support from UNICEF.
A cross section of the residents of the community said at the event that after witnessing the devastating effects of the disease, they were now embracing immunisation.
The medical outreach is in commemoration of the African Vaccination/World Immunisation Week which holds from April 24 to 30.
Its has the theme: “Vaccination for all is Humanly Possible”.
The field visit to the village was meant to be an opportunity to monitor executive supervision of the ongoing polio campaign.
It was also to observe and document the impact of mobile outreaches in a zero-dose ward/LGA.
One of the residents, Saudatu Safiyanu, said she lost four children out of six to measles and others to severe fever.
She added that whenever medical teams for vaccination of any kind visited the village, they shied away and hid their children.
Safiyanu said her husband was totally against vaccination.
She said she pleaded with her husband to let their children get immunised but he refused.
Safiyanu recalled: “One day, some of the medical teams came for another vaccination in the village which my husband still refused to let the only two surviving children we have to be immunised.
“I then spoke to one of the officials to talk to my husband, which he did and my husband agreed.
“Since then, my only surviving children are healthy and have not been critically ill to a point that we loose hope or even think of death.
“The vaccinators usually come to our village to persuade and plead with us to bring out our children for immunisation, only few houses comply.
“I observed that those complying are having healthy children who don’t usually fall sick.”
According to her, the refusal is always from the men, adding that the women were always willing to give their children for Immunisation.
“Every mother wants to see her child healthy.
“You could imagine the pain of loosing four children after the whole suffering of carrying them for nine months each in the stomach, and then giving birth to them and they die,” the traumatised mother lamented.
Also, Adamu Musa of the same village, who lost two children to death, said they all died of measles.
Musa said he never believed in the vaccination thinking it was an evil plot against the rural children.
He, however, said he has now been much aware of the benefits and now allows all his children to be immunised.
He urged all men in the village to be informed and avail their children for the immunisation, emphasising the positive health changes he has seen on his surviving children.
The Village Head of Unguan Kanawa, Tankarau, Dutsen Abba Ward, Nasiru Yunusa, said two third of the villagers were avoiding all the kinds of vaccination being brought to them.
He, however, said with constant enlightenment and awareness, the villagers have now accepted the vaccination, decrying that only few of them were yet to do so.
“Those houses that were very stubborn, unfortunately got hit by measles which result to deaths.
“Now, we also have children that are on admissions because of the measles,” Yunusa lamented.
He urged the villager to to accept all the different vaccinations that the government and its partners bring to the people.
He again emphasised that they were not harmful, but aimed at ensuring healthy children and the society.
Speaking to newsmen at the sideline of the outreach, the UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Kaduna, Dr Gerida Birukila, stated the importance of the week, adding that they were also engaging in polio vaccination.
She said that the community had 100 per cent refusal for vaccination three years ago.
“As you have observed for yourself, there is now a serious measles outbreak.
“Several children have never been immunised, and as a result, they are suffering from measles.
“In one family of nine, they have already lost two children and others are still sick.
“So, it is very important for the community to immunise their children,” she said.
Birukila lamented that under the backdrop of vaccine shortages, they were trying to find vaccines for measles.
“There is a shortage in the country, and it is really important that we secure predictable vaccination supplies for the children.
“We are facing many challenges, mainly parental refusal due to lack of belief in immunisation,” the UNICEF top-notch official lamented.
She, however, said through interventions by the community, religious leaders and the government, the community had started accepting immunisation.
Birukila stated that the government was also supporting other services like healthcare to ensure that the community was well supported.
She appealed to parents, community, religious and traditional leaders, the government as well as partners to encourage the uptake of immunisation in order to save lives.
Birukila hoped that predictable funding for vaccination and immunisation would continue.
Also, the Director, Disease Control, Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board, Hamza Ikara, emphasised intensifying routine immunisation to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates nationwide.
He lamented that many children in Ungwan Kanawa had fallen victim to measles due to.the lack of immunisation or missed vaccinations, largely due to parental refusal and non-compliance.
Ikara said that efforts were underway to strengthen surveillance, conduct re-vaccination, and sensitise household heads, securing men’s consent for vaccinations.
“Teams will visit the community today to vaccinate the children.
“The goal is to quickly stop the measles outbreak in the community and across the local government area through vaccination and outreach efforts,” he said.
The Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA) has inaugurated a house-to-house polio vaccination campaign to protect children from the debilitating effects of the poliovirus.
The campaign marks the commemoration of the Integrated 2025 National Immunisation Plus Days (NIPDs) and African Vaccination Week (AVW).
While inaugurating the campaign on Saturday, the Kogi Commissioner for Health, Dr Abdulazeez Adeiza, emphasised that vaccines save lives.
He highlighted that the key objective of the campaign was to increase immunisation coverage and reduce vaccine-preventable diseases.
Represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Dorcas Enehe, Adeiza urged parents and caregivers to welcome vaccinators and ensured their children were protected through vaccination.
The commissioner stressed that the campaign was focused on prevention, protection, and the collective future of Kogi’s children, urging everyone to work together to keep polio out of the state.
Earlier, Dr Musa Muazu, Executive Director of KSPHCDA, emphasised the importance of immunisation in saving lives and building healthier communities.
He explained that the campaign, which was scheduled to run from April 26 to 29, targeted children, aged 0 to 59 months, with the aim of ensuring that no eligible child was left unvaccinated.
Muazu also lauded the efforts of frontline health workers, community mobilisers, partners, and volunteers who had made the campaign possible.
He reiterated the importance of ensuring equitable immunisation, stating that no child should miss out on vaccines due to their location or background.
Representatives from partner organisations such as WHO, UNICEF, and NPHCDA reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that every eligible child in Kogi State was vaccinated.
Traditional leaders, including the Ohiegba of Mozum, HRH King Bukar Khalid, also pledged support to encourage the community to ensure full participation in the vaccination effort.
The Wife of Sokoto State Governor, Hajiya Fatima Aliyu, has called on women and other stakeholders to intensify efforts in the fight against poliomyelitis and other immunisation campaigns.
Aliyu made the call on Saturday during her visit to communities in Dange/Shuni, Sokoto South, and Sokoto North local government areas as part of the ongoing national round of the polio immunisation campaign.
She stressed that the campaign was a critical public health initiative aimed at protecting children under five years old from the debilitating effects of polio and other preventable diseases.
She also called on local communities and health workers to collaborate with the government in overcoming challenges in reaching underserved areas.
Aliyu reaffirmed her commitment to the welfare of women and children.
She lauded the efforts of Gov. Ahmed Aliyu, the Ministry of Health, and the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SSPHDA).
She also acknowledged the contributions of other development partners for their dedication to improving child health in the state
“Every dose of vaccine administered is a step closer to eradicating polio from our villages, states, and the entire nation,” she stated.
In addition, the State Commissioner for Health, Mr. Faruk Umar, emphasised the importance of collective commitment to eliminate polio in Sokoto.
He appealed to parents and traditional leaders to support the campaign, underlining the devastating impact of polio on children and the significance of immunisation.
Umar reassured the public of the political will to improve healthcare services in Sokoto and urged parents to ensure their children received the vaccination.
The national campaign was launched in Dange/Shuni on Friday.
The event was attended by notable figures including UNICEF Chief of Field Sokoto State Office, Mr. Michael Juma; UNFPA Programme Officer, Ms. Gloria Enueze; and officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Also present at the launch were Dr Larai Tambuwal, Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SSPHDA), and other stakeholders dedicated to improving public health in Sokoto.
The Kano State Government in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners on Saturday flagged off the 2025 polio immunisation campaign in the state.
Flagging off the exercise in Warawa Local Government Area, Gov. Abba Kabir-Yusuf said the exercise was aimed at curbing the spread of the virus and protecting children from the life-threatening disease.
Kabir-Yusuf, represented by his Deputy and Chairman, Task Force on Immunisation, Alhaji Aminu Abdulsalam, said the resurgence of polio was a serious concern that must be tackled with urgency.
“We will not relent until Kano is completely free from the virus,” he said.
He added that the government, in collaboration with its development partners, would intensify efforts to ensure that every eligible child was reached during the exercise.
The governor urged parents and caregivers to present their children for vaccination, stressing that the vaccine was safe, effective and free.
Kabir-Yusuf also commended health workers and development partners, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Dangote Foundation and other BN partners for their continued support.
Michael Banda, the UNICEF Senior Education Manager and Officer-in-Charge, Kano Field Office, said Nigeria remained central to global efforts to stop the transmission of circulating variant polio viruses.
He described Kano as a high-priority state, adding that strong leadership at all levels was crucial to ensuring that every child received life-saving vaccines.
“As the world marks Immunisation Week, it is important to reflect on the impact of vaccines, which have saved over 150 million lives globally in the past 50 years,” he said.
Banda noted that recent global funding cuts posed serious threats to immunisation progress, making unified local action more important than ever.
He said that the oral polio vaccine remained safe and effective, having reduced global polio cases by 99.9 per cent, but warned that just one case could trigger an outbreak.
“To eliminate it, every child under five must be reached in every round of immunisation,” he said.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran, said the campaign would target children under five across the 44 local government areas of the state.
He said thousands of trained personnel had been deployed to conduct house-to-house vaccination to ensure no child was left behind.
Also speaking, the 14th Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammad Sanusi II, commended the state government for launching the exercise in Warawa LGA.
Sanusi, represented by the District Head of Shanono, Dr Lamido Sanusi, urged parents to present their children for the oral polio vaccine, describing it as safe, effective and vital to global efforts to eradicate the disease.
Kano was declared polio-free in 2020 but has recently recorded new variant cases, prompting renewed efforts to contain the disease.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with the Bauchi State Government has mobilised traditional rulers to ensure massive 2025 polio vaccine uptake and compliance in the state.
Speaking during the monitoring of the vaccination exercise in Ningi Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, Chief of UNICEF’s Field Office, Bauchi, lauded the Emirs for actively participating in the advocacy of the polio vaccine uptake in the state.
Represented by Mr. Eki George, UNICEF’s Social Behaviour Change Specialist, Rafique acknowledged that the role the traditional rulers would play to ensure massive vaccine compliance and uptake could not be overemphasised.
“It is a welcome development to see our royal fathers taking up the leadership role in leading our communities to do the right thing.
“We are indeed very grateful as we have sought for their roles in this campaign and here they are with us to ensure that our children are all vaccinated.
“We appreciate the presence of the traditional rulers during these monitoring exercises and this will definitely encourage and boost the uptake of the polio vaccine, especially by the non-compliance people in the state.
“This is a campaign where we want to ensure that all the zero dose children in the state receive the life-saving vaccine as well as ensure that the parents especially fathers continuously give consent for their children to be vaccinated,” she said.
Rafique expressed UNICEF’s readiness to support all the LGAs, the communities and the state at large in ensuring that all the qualified children are vaccinated and kick out polio from the state and Nigeria in general.
Also speaking, Alhaji Othman Usman, Emir of Dass, said that the traditional institutions in the state were very committed to ensuring that polio was completely eradicated in Bauchi State this time around.
The First Class Emir, who is the Chairman, Bauchi State Emirate Councils Committee on Health (BASECCOH), said the traditional rulers would be fully involved in the mobilisation of communities, especially the non-compliance for the vaccine uptake.
“There are many communities here that are very known for non-compliance of the polio vaccine and that is why I and the Emir of Ningi have decided to visit the communities by ourselves.
“We are here to sensitise the people of these communities to ensure that the health workers can be able to access each and every household to be able to vaccinate all the eligible children in these communities,” he said.
The Emir also explained that they had been working closely with some Malams and Imams who had been resisting the vaccine in the past, adding that they have all accepted it.
“It’s a very good effort and In-Sha-Allah, we are going to see successes because the issue of resistance is now being taken care of.
“Even the Imams that were resisting to some extent before are now with us and one of them just did a symbolic vaccination of some children,” he said.
The Emir of Dass was accompanied by the Emir of Ningi, Alhaji Haruna Danyaya and some religious and community leaders.
The Adamawa Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ADPHCDA) has launched a polio vaccination campaign targeting no fewer than 1.4 million children, with support from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Speaking at the 2025 National Immunisation Day celebration in Malkohi, Yola South LGA, on Saturday, the State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, said the aim of the exercise is to protect the lives and future of children.
Fintiri, who was represented by Mr. Ibrahim Mijinyawa, Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, said healthcare is one of the priorities of his administration.
He called on traditional leaders to encourage parents and caregivers to present their children for vaccination during the campaign to eradicate polio from the state.
Fintiri urged all stakeholders to work together to ensure the campaign’s success.
In her address, UNICEF Chief of the Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, also appealed to parents and caregivers to take advantage of the campaign as a final opportunity to eradicate polio.
She said UNICEF is working closely with the state government to improve the wellbeing of children in the state and the country at large.
She stressed that the vaccine is safe and effective, and called for the support and acceptance of the people.
Dr Yusuf Abdulkareem, Coordinator of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Adamawa, urged parents to take every immunisation exercise seriously to boost the immunity of children, who are the leaders of tomorrow.
Abdulkareem also called on the government to intensify efforts in the fight against malaria in the state.
Alhaji Zubairu Mustapha, District Head of Yola South LGA, appreciated the contributions of partners in the health sector and assured full loyalty to the state government in efforts to improve healthcare.
He further pledged to intensify efforts in sensitising their subjects towards promoting the wellbeing of their children.
By Sani Idris, Stephen Adeleye, Habibu Harisu, Muhammad Nur Tijani, Olaide Ayinde and Ibrahim Kado