STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI ON THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF INTERRUPTION OF WILD POLIOVIRUS TRANSMISSION IN NIGERIA

1. Today, July 24, 2016 marks two years since the last case of wild poliovirus was reported in Nigeria. I congratulate all stakeholders that have made this historic achievement possible and those who have worked tirelessly to maintain the effort and permanently halt new polio cases in the country.

2. The next major milestone for us as a country is the certification of polio-free status in 2017 by the World Health Organisation. This administration remains firm in its commitment towards making this a reality by continuing to support in every way possible, routine immunization and the revitalization of primary health care system.

3. As a nation, we are cooperating with international, public and private partners to ensure that in our lifetime our children do not suffer from this crippling disease again. We recognize the power of global partnership to achieve a polio-free world and Nigeria will continue to honour its commitment to ensure that this disease is wiped off the face of the earth for good.

United Nations Foundation: The Case for Ending Polio

While the world is closer than ever to eradicating polio, a final push of funding is needed to get over the finish line. Why should donors and advocates support this cause?

Polio is a devastating disease that can paralyze and even kill children. In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) – a partnership led by national governments, with five core partners, including the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and UNICEF, and comprising millions of health workers and advocates around the world – was formed to eradicate polio once and for all.

This global effort has made incredible progress: Polio cases are now down from over 350,000 cases per year in 1988 to fewer than 100 cases in 2015. GPEI recently determined that it will take additional funding to end the disease and released its investment case, which explains why the funds are necessary and why it is more important than ever that the global community does all that it can to end polio for good. Here are the main takeaways.

Rescued Boko Haram Victims: 61 Infants Hospitalized And 478 Malnourished Kids For Special Care

Sixty one critically malnourished infants have been hospitalized on the orders of Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima after he relocated 478 children and 219 adults, all of them malnurished due to two years captivity in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents before they were rescued by the Nigerian Military. 

The victims were moved from Bama to a special care unit in Maiduguri on Monday. Dozens of buses brought conveyed them to a newly opened special care unit in Maiduguri.

The 61 infants now hospitalized at Umaru Shehu Specialist Hospital, owned by the State Government in Maiduguri, are undergoing medical care arising from extreme deprivation of food. They were ‎part of the 478 children moved from Bama alongside 219 adults also malnurished. The adults consist of 196 women, some of whom gave birth to part of the 478 children. The rest of the adults are 23 men, looking thin.

TRIUMPH, CONSOLIDATION, PAINS AND ACHIEVEMENTS - PRESIDENT BUHARI'S DEMOCRACY DAY SPEECH

PRESIDENT BUHARI'S DEMOCRACY DAY SPEECH MAY 29,2016.

My compatriots,

It is one year today since our administration came into office. It has been a year of triumph, consolidation, pains and achievements. By age, instinct and experience, my preference is to look forward, to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead and rededicate the administration to the task of fixing Nigeria. But I believe we can also learn from the obstacles we have overcome and the progress we made thus far, to help strengthen the plans that we have in place to put Nigeria back on the path of progress.

We affirm our belief in democracy as the form of government that best assures the active participation and actual benefit of the people. Despite the many years of hardship and disappointment the people of this nation have proved inherently good, industrious tolerant, patient and generous.

Nigeria’s Most Important Assets Are its People says Minister of State for Health Pate

Former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammad Pate, a public policy expert and a strategic member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) agenda committee, has a passion about improving lives and Nigeria’s public health system. He spoke with Paul Obi about his vision for a better Nigeria, education and how government intervention can be effective. Excerpts:

Since you left office a couple of years ago, there is a foundation which has been linked to you…can you take us through it and your other engagements so far?

RESCUE CHIBOK GIRL: No girl in Nigeria should be put through brutality of forced marriage - President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari who was delighted today at recieving the rescued Chibok Girl Amina Ali Nkeki has said that no girl in Nigeria should be put through the brutality of forced marriage.

President Buhari made the statement today at the state house while recieving Amina and her family members that acompany her.

According to the President: "Like all Nigerians and many others around the world, I am delighted at the news that Amina Ali Nkeki, one of the missing Chibok girls has regained her freedom. But my feelings are tinged with deep sadness at the horrors the young girl has had to go through at such an early stage in her life."

Addis Ababa In Fresh Effort To Rescue Abducted Chibock Girls

NAN reports that the AU has announced plans to engage the Federal Government and other stakeholders in a meeting, in a fresh move to rescue the more than 200 girls abducted by insurgents in Chibok, Borno.

The AU Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security, Mrs Benita Diop, made the disclosure at the close of the Conference of Ministers of Social Development in Addis Ababa on Saturday.

Diop, who is to lead a delegation to Abuja on Monday, June 2, is to intimate the Federal Government on the “new approach’’ to rescue the girls, abducted on April 14.