President Goodluck Jonathan hinted yesterday that the federal government had increased the funds earmarked for the eradication of polio from $17 million to $30 million, just as he has expressed concern that Nigeria is a sanctuary of wild polio that is becoming a threat to other countries.
“My commitment to the people of this country is that, between now and 2015 when my term of office is expected to end, we will work day and night to make sure that we eradicate polio. For that reason, we have also increased the amount of money we bring into polio eradication from $17 million to $30 million and if we have challenges, we will look for more money,” he stated.
Speaking when he inaugurated the presidential task force on polio eradication at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday, Jonathan said he was certain that Nigerians were as embarrassed as himself whenever issues of polio were mentioned in the papers.
He said: “Nigeria is still a sanctuary of wild polio and we are becoming a threat to other countries. It is quite embarrassing, especially considering the fact that polio is a disease that we can conveniently eradicate. It could have been done some years back. We don't need rocket science to eradicate polio; it is simple vaccination,” he added.
The president noted that it would take the will of government, from federal through the states to the local governments and the traditional institution, to educate the people to accept the vaccination.
He said, “In Australia during the CHOGM, I pledged that before I leave office in this country, we must eradicate polio. Luckily for us, out of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the disease is now limited to about eight states.
We cannot begin to say that the Nigeria population is high or big – that is why we cannot eradicate polio; that is no excuse, because countries that have over one billion people have done that. We are just about 170 million people; we have no excuse.”
He thanked development partners that have been working with Nigeria to eradicate polio in Nigeria, especially the government of Japan, United Kingdom, the United States, and the German government, Rotary International and, especially, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.