THE Shehu of Bama, Alhaji Kyari Ibrahim Ibn Elkanemi, has expressed concern over the lukewarm attitude of parents on the fight against polio, saying the disease remains only in the North due to non-cooperation of some parents towards immunisation of their wards.
Alhaji El-Kanemi, who stated this at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop for Northern Muslim Religious Leaders Forum on primary healthcare on strengthening religious leaders as advocates for immunisation and child nutrition held at Zaranda Hotel, Bauchi, said the forum was to find more ways of improving the health care services of the people especially through routine immunisation against diseases.
He called on religious leaders particularly, Imams, to use their pulpits to educate the people on Polio immunisation, adding that Muslim countries like Indonesia and Pakistan had all certified that the Polio immunisation was free from all evils.
Also speaking, the representative of Qadiriyya sect, Dr Mansur Datti Kabara, called on Muslims to refrain from criticising something they had little or no knowledge about.
Dr Kabara, who is the Chief Imam of Darul Qadiriyya Mosque in Kano, appealed to parents to prevent their children from falling victims of Polio by allowing them to be immunized against the scourge.
In their separate goodwill messages, Sheikh Hassan Abubakar Dikko from JIBWIS, Jos and Alaramma Sanusi Abubakar from the National Qur’anic Research of Nigeria, called on stakeholders not to relent in enlightening the doubting Thomases on the genuineness of the Polio immunization.
The Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar, in his remark, stressed the need for stakeholders in the health sector to place special emphasis on primary healthcare in order to eradicate problems associated with maternal and child health which had, over the years, taken a great toll on the people.
The governor, who observed that primary healthcare formed the bedrock of health activities for the people, said the involvement of traditional leaders and Ulamas in the campaign for immunisation and other related activities had, over the years, contributed immensely towards the enlightenment of the local population.
He acknowledged the immense contributions of Sultan Foundation for Peace Development, and Bill and Milinda Gate in the provision of healthcare services especially on immunisation in the Northern part of the country.
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