Musa Na Allah, Sokoto
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the Sokoto State Government and development partners, has intensified efforts to eradicate polio, targeting more than one million children through aggressive grassroots mobilisation and public awareness campaigns despite security challenges in parts of the state.
The renewed campaign featured prominently during the 2026 World Polio Day activities, held under the theme, “One Day, One Focus: Ending Polio,” which culminated in a grand sensitisation rally on Saturday, October 24, involving youths, women and persons with disabilities.
Speaking shortly after the rally, UNICEF Social policy Specialist, Isah Ibrahim, said stakeholders had intensified community engagement to ensure that eligible children received polio vaccines, particularly those in hard-to-reach communities affected by insecurity.
Ibrahim disclosed that the campaign was targeting over one million children across Sokoto State, stressing that sustained collaboration among government officials, traditional institutions, community leaders and development partners was essential to achieving comprehensive immunisation coverage.
He expressed concern over the impact of insecurity on vaccination activities, noting that five local government areas remained accessible for immunisation operations under the prevailing security situation. He called for sustained efforts to overcome access barriers and protect vulnerable children from the potentially devastating consequences of polio.
The UNICEF official added that the state government had mobilized local government chairmen, councillors, their wives, traditional rulers and community leaders to conduct house-to-house and door-to-door sensitisation, encourage vaccine acceptance and counter misinformation about immunisation.
Also speaking, the Director of Advocacy at the Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dahiru Kamaru Gada, described the four-day programme as a successful mobilisation exercise that began and ended at the state’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), which coordinates disease surveillance and response activities.
Gada explained that the programme commenced on October 21 with a youth football match designed to encourage young people to take ownership of the polio eradication campaign. On October 22, government representatives and development partners participated in a friendly football match, which he said highlighted the importance of government leadership, commitment and funding in sustaining public health interventions.
The third activity, held on October 23, featured a para-soccer match between Team Virus and Team Vaccine, involving polio survivors. Team Vaccine emerged victorious in the symbolic contest, reinforcing the campaign’s message that vaccination remains a critical tool for preventing polio-related disabilities.
“Virus brings disability, while vaccine brings life. Vaccine must always win,” Gada declared, describing the participation of polio survivors as a powerful reminder of the consequences of the disease and the importance of protecting children through timely immunisation.
The activities concluded on October 24 with a grand rally from the EOC through Marina, Yar Goriba, Gobirawa and Rijiyar Dorowa before participants returned to the centre. Gada commended UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), AFENET and Rotary International for supporting the campaign, while praising the survivors and other participants for helping to spread the message across communities.
He urged parents and caregivers to present their eligible children for immunisation, emphasizing that vaccines were free, safe and available daily at primary healthcare centres across the state. Speaking on behalf of the Acting Executive Secretary of the Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Bilyaminu Yari Sifawa, Gada formally declared the 2026 World Polio Day activities closed, reaffirming the collective commitment to ending polio in Sokoto State and Nigeria at large.
