Clerics laud FG’s commitment to disease eradication

Some clerics have lauded the commitment of the Federal Government toward the eradication of polio in the country.

In separate telephone interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, the clerics advised the Federal Government to organise workshops to train the relevant medical personnel both in both rural and urban areas, to sensitise the people.

NAN recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari had said that nothing would stop Nigeria from being certified polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2017.

Pastor Taiwo Agbabiaka of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Gaa-Odota, Kwara, urged the government to ensure that health sector personnel were very well equipped with the skills and knowledge to ensure a polio-free Nigeria.

Agbabiaka underscored the importance of enlightening the masses on the consequences of polio disease on children.

"We should try to empower our health sector by procuring health equipment for them; and all health personnel should be trained by sending them on professional courses and organising seminars.

"They should enlighten the masses on the implications of polio by creating awareness,’’ he said.

Bishop David Bakare of Jesus is Life Ministries, Zaria, Kaduna State, said that Nigeria had achieved 12 months without new cases of polio in the country.

Bakare said that the Federal Government should be able to deal with polio, having overcome the major obstacle, particularly in northern part of the country where it was prevalent.

He advised the Federal Government to ensure that polio vaccine was made available all over the country, so that eradicating the disease would be achieved even before 2017.

"We should not concentrate only on northern Nigeria in the distribution of the vaccine; I suggest that we should maintain the success and not abandon it even after achieving the goal,’’ Bakare said.