Oni raises alarm over Ekiti health workers’ strike
ADO-EKITI- Former governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni has said no fewer than 10,000 children in Ekiti State from the day of birth to five years are at the risk and may suffer from polio, whooping coughs and other killer diseases as Primary Health saddled with the responsibilities of immunising the children against these diseases have been shutdown for two months now.
Chief Oni made this known yesterday in a statement signed by his media aide, Lere Olayinka saying he was compelled to raise the alarm again because the state government appeared to have left the children to their fate, by allowing the health workers’ strike to continue for two months.
He said: “Before we left government, polio had already been eradicated from the State.
Ekiti was number one in Life Expectancy at Birth (years) and number 10 in overall Human Development in Nigeria in 2009 according to UNDP Human Development Report Nigeria 2008– 2009.
“Now with our children not being immunised against polio and other deadly diseases, I am afraid that we stand the risk of return of the diseases, especially polio to the State and this will be painful.
“It will be painful because our children, who are the future of the State, will be made to suffer for the insensitivity of government to the plight of the health workers.
“On October 18, exactly twelve days ago, I raised the alarm that parents in Ekiti were already taking their children to neighbouring states of Ondo and Kogi for immunisation because there were no health workers to carry out the immunisation exercise, in spite of the availability of vaccines.
“Some of our mothers, who took their children to Ita-Ogbolu were told to wait until children from Ondo State are attended to before our children could be immunised.”
“Therefore, in the interest of our children and the future of Ekitiland, I am once again appealing to the State government and the striking health workers to please save the lives of our children by resolving whatever dispute that is responsible for the strike. “Well-meaning Ekiti indigenes and Nigerians are also urged to wade into the industrial crises, with a view to resolving it without further delay.
