Lagos — Retired General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma said has said that his substantial donation to polio eradication is borne out of his involvement in humanitarian activities over the years.
Gen Danjuma who spoke at a recent dinner organised by the Nigeria National Polioplus Committee (NNPPC) in honour of the general and his wife, said he has also been working in collaboration with an NGO to eradicate river blindness and tropical diseases in endemic states in Nigeria.
General Danjuma said he couldn't imagine Nigeria rated with Afghanistan and Pakistan as endemic countries which necessitated his kind gesture.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, NNPPC, Dr. Abdulrahman Tunji Funso, said the Nigeria is expected to be declared polio free by the World Health Organisation ( WHO) on July 24, 2015 when it will clock a year without any new case of the virus in the country. He said after the July, 2015 polio free certification by the WHO, it will take the agency another two years to evaluate the status of the virus in the country before declaring it a non-endemic nation.
The NNPPC chairman said: "The way we are going, I think we are getting more confident since we have not had any polio case in this country since July last year. The hope is that by 24th July, this year, we will be exactly one year without polio and the World Health Organisation (WHO) can now certify Nigeria polio free; after that it will take another two years before we are taken off the list.
"So, talking essentially by August 2017, Nigeria will then be a polio free country."
He explained that the regular door-to-door immunisation will continue every month in the high risk states of the North while efforts will be made to strengthen routine immunisation in non-high risk states particularly, the South East and South West states.
The general and his wife, Daisy, were later decorated with Rotary International Golden lapel pin for their contributions to the fight against the child-killer disease.
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