From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The President of Rotary International, Jennifer Jones has tasked field workers fighting to eradicate polio to fight on despite the fact that the job is almost done.
She spoke while delivering her address at the occasion of the National Polio Field Workers organized by the Nigeria National Polioplus Committee in Kano .
Represented by Past District Governor Ijeoma Okoro, she declared that this was not the time to be complacent, adding that, “We can’t afford it. We have been on this for a very long time.We has committed so much manhour, so much money and so much energy for us to go back”.
She cautioned that although statistics indicated that the globe is 99.9 percent cleared of virus, the outstanding one percent was critical as it could mar all that had been recorded in the fight against the virus.
She appreciated the immense contributions of the role of the field workers against the virus, noting that they are on the frontlines and are the real heroes of the success story.
“Money can get to the finish line, but money would not be on the streets and in the dark ends. It would require committed individuals like you to get to the streets, right under the sun and rain, to seek out children who has not been vaccinated” she told the workers
She also recognized the risks ithey face each day as they stepped out to work, saying they could be harmed, kidnapped in the field.
At the ceremony, which was attended by the scores of awardees from different parts of the country and other stakeholders including the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, hundreds of polio survivors were gifted with polio tricycles to ease their movements in life.