By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse
Ahead of the November 2025 national vaccination against polio commences on Saturday, ( today), the Jigawa state government has projected 95% coverage of the exercise before the end of the year.
This state currently has a 58% coverage of the vaccination, a far cry from the 100% projected by the end of December this year. During the exercise at least 1.5 million children between ages 0-5 years are expected to be immunized in the state.
Addressing a media dialogue and sensitization campaign ahead of the Saturday’s commencement of the exercise, Rahma Rihood Mahmoud Farah, the Chief of Field of Kano Office of the United Nations Children’s Day said the two- day exercise would address the disturbing gap the immunization.
The vaccination exercise would be carried out by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Jigawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (JIPHCDA) in collaboration with some development partners is expected to last till December 2 with additional one day for ramp up.
According to the UNICEF Chief “Our gathering here today highlights the crucial role the media plays in our collaboration to ensure the well-being of children. For this round Nigeria targeting 42 million Children in 21 priority states in two phases starting from 29th November 2025 till 9th December 2025.
“Jigawa will be part of Block A States+ FCT and the date for this round is from 29th November till 2nd December 2025 across all 287 political wards and 27 LGAs.
,”It is gratifying that igawa has made some progress with 5 LGAs reporting cases this year compared to 6 LGAs in 2024. The total number of confirmed cVPV2 cases in 2024 was 12 whereas in 2025, as of now the state has reported 5 cases. (58% reduction)
“However, the November Polio Vaccination Campaign presents another opportunity for us to work towards eradicating polio. Everyone has a role to play, including the media.”
He urged the media to disseminate accurate information about polio vaccination and use various channels to mobilize caregivers, parents, communities and stakeholders to make children available for vaccination.
“Let me highlight that the target set was to achieve a zero case count by December 2025, however, since this virus knows no boundaries, a case in point is that in 2025 the country has already reported 72 confirmed cVPV2 cases from 49 LGAs of 14 states.
“Therefore, we still need to be extra vigilant and work hard to prevent further relapses to stop the circulation.
“To stop this ongoing circulation, we must achieve at least 95% or higher vaccination coverage by immunizing all targeted children during every campaign.
“We also need to pay attention to Routine Immunization (RI), every LGA must have at least 80% of children 0-11 months fully vaccinated with three doses of Penta vaccine.
For this round the government have allocated 3,060 House to House Vaccination Teams and provided 1.7 million doses of Novel Oral Polio Vaccines (nOPV2) to immunize a total of over 1.5 million children under five years age in the state.
“Additionally, 548 special teams will be responsible for vaccination in overcrowded/busy places like markets, streets and bus stands etc.
“It is important to mention that RI and other services like Vit A , deworming tabs and other nutritional supplies. will also be served at all health facilities and through fixed posts.
The state, with the support of UNICEF, has deployed 1,500 health workers after improved IPC Skills training. Additionally, the state has trained and deployed 264 Non Compliance Resolution Teams (NCRTs) members.
While we acknowledge the progress made possible by the Government and key partners, our goal of halting the circulation of the polio virus in Jigawa State is yet to be obtained.
“With only one month until December, the agreed date for achieving the set goal of eradicating polio virus from Nigeria, UNICEF calls on the Jigawa State Government to implement the following:
“LGAs chairmen to personally oversee the pre, intra and post campaign phases and be regularly chairing the evening review meetings during the campaign.
State/LGAs Flag off to be conducted and counterpart funds to be released to LGAs on time.”
According to him, the vaccines are provided free by the government, are effective and safe. Therefore, let us take all necessary actions to eradicate polio in Jigawa State and indeed Nigeria.
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