FG Mobilises Northern Monarchs To Reach 2.1m Unvaccinated Children
The Federal Government has intensified efforts to address Nigeria’s zero-dose child crisis by engaging traditional rulers across Northern Nigeria to help reach millions of children who have not received life-saving vaccines and other essential primary healthcare services.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, made the call on Wednesday at the Quarterly Review Meeting of the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care (NTLCC).
The meeting brought together government officials, traditional rulers, development partners and health experts to review progress in routine immunisation, polio eradication and primary healthcare delivery across the 19 northern states.
Pate said Nigeria’s major immunisation challenge was no longer vaccine availability but the difficulty of reaching children left behind due to vaccine hesitancy, insecurity, population movement and hard-to-reach communities.
He urged traditional rulers to intensify community mobilisation, identify missed settlements and encourage families to embrace routine immunisation.
According to him, the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee has remained a key platform for improving immunisation coverage, maternal and child health, nutrition and disease prevention since its establishment in 2009.
“I thank His Eminence for establishing this platform and I thank you for your leadership as members of the NTLCC. Millions of families have embraced immunisation because of the efforts you have put in.
Maternal and child health services have been demanded and received, nutrition and other life-saving interventions have reached our people, and millions of children have been saved because of the interventions you have championed,” Pate said.
While acknowledging Nigeria’s sustained wild polio-free status and improvements in routine immunisation, antenatal care and skilled birth attendance, the minister warned that the country must urgently address the resurgence of circulating variant poliovirus in some high-risk states.
“The remaining barriers are no longer purely operational. We have trained frontline workers and deployed resources, but the issues now stem from missed children, routine immunisation gaps, population mobility and insecurity. We rely on your influence to overcome these obstacles,” he told the traditional rulers.
Pate also disclosed that Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, had approved nearly $500 million to support Nigeria’s immunisation efforts between 2026 and 2030, with about $345 million earmarked for vaccine procurement, while additional funding would strengthen cold-chain infrastructure and primary healthcare systems.
He, however, stressed the need for increased domestic investment in healthcare to reduce dependence on external support.
“We cannot maintain true sovereignty while relying indefinitely on external funding. As a responsible nation, we must invest directly in our population’s health,” he said.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Muyi Aina, said recent health survey findings showed improvements in routine immunisation coverage.
