From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
The Ata’Igala, His Royal Majesty, Matthew Opaluwa has warned against the hijack of the distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines by some fraudulent individuals bent in sabotaging government’s efforts at curtailing the pandemic.
Opaluwa, gave the warning at his palace in Idah at the weekend, when a none governmental organization, Challenge Parenthood Initiative, (CPI) paid him an advocacy visit.
The monarch also advised that government should guide against administering fake Vaccines for Nigerians to consume.
“Let us get the original vaccine and put an end to this deadline pandemic” he said.
The monarch however, promised to mobilize his people towards the successful uptake of the vaccine in Igala Kingdom.
Earlier in her remarks, the Executive Director of CPI, Eunice Abimbola Agbogun congratulated HRM Mathew Opaluwa for his installation as the new Ata’Igala assuring that his reign will bring goodies to Igala land and Kogi in general.
She added that his coming on board has ushered in the award of contact for the rehabilitation of Idah-Nsukka road by the Federal Government, describing the development as a good omen.
On the advocacy visit on COVID-19 vaccines to the Attahs’ palace, Agbogun noted that their objective is to enhance awareness on the efficacy of the covid-19 vaccine and mobilize target communities to increase demand uptake of the vaccines and to build the capacity of stakeholders on emerging issues in the fight against COVID-19 and promote uptake of covid-19 vaccines.
Continuing, Agbogun said “In the wake of the emergence of the third wave of the COVID-19, Nigeria has begun to see a pandemic of two tracks – where the Delta variant is tearing through
unvaccinated populations. Despite the support by the COVAX Facility led by WHO and UNICEF who have so far delivered 3.9 million doses to Nigeria, the country has continued to suffer from the gross inequity in global vaccine access”.
“The current COVID-19 case surge across parts of the Country has resulted to the need to encourage citizens of Kogi State to take up responsibilities of adhering to preventive measures aimed at avoiding the spread of COVID-19 from high burden state into Kogi State. Therefore, there is need for both State and Non State actors to provide the needed interventions to promote the uptake of the vaccines in particular”.
