Hotoro North, a community in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State, has achieved near-total compliance and recorded one of the highest polio vaccination turnout rates in the state.
The Assistant Ward Vocal Person in Hotoro North, Hauwa Muhammad Ibrahim, disclosed this on Wednesday, saying over 99 percent of eligible children in Hotoro North received the oral polio vaccine during the week-long exercise.
Hauwa stressed that “the community had not achieved such a resounding target in a single specific-target polio vaccination exercise.”
The remarkable achievement comes at a crucial time as Nigeria intensifies efforts to eliminate all forms of poliovirus following recent detections of vaccine-derived strains in parts of the country.
Nigeria Info reports that the state embarked on a six-day specific-target polio vaccination campaign between 24 and 30 April 2025.
The exercise is targeted at vaccinating 4.1 million children under five with special attention on 15 Local Government Areas (LGAs) identified as high-priority zones.
According to officials, the exercise became necessary following the resurgence of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs), a type of poliovirus that arises from the oral polio vaccine (OPV), used in the prevention of polio in the state.
The Ward Development Committee (WDC), led by Chairman Al Hassan Adamu Illiyasu, played a central role in driving the campaign, organizing door-to-door visits, and coordinating with traditional and religious leaders to promote vaccine acceptance.
He credited the success to strong grassroots mobilization, effective community engagement, and leadership by local influencers.
He said, “We didn’t just wait for people to come, we went to them.”
“We worked with imams, youth groups, and women leaders to spread the message that the polio vaccine is safe, free, and essential for our children’s future.”
The representative of the Village Head of Hotoro, Umar Ahmad Hotoro, revealed that religious leaders in the community were also instrumental in sensitizing the population.
He said, “During Friday sermons, imams urged parents to comply with the vaccination exercise, framing it as both a public health duty and a religious responsibility to protect the young and vulnerable.”
