By Rebecca Caleb Maina
This year’s World Polio Day, Billiri in Gombe State is showing what’s possible when communities take charge. From mistrust to full participation, parents here are saying yes to vaccines and no to polio ensuring every child gets a fair chance at a healthy future.
Through collaboration between community leaders, health officials, and development partners, the area has achieved near 100 percent acceptance of the oral polio vaccine, ensuring that no child is left behind.
A few years ago, vaccination campaigns in some parts of Gombe State were often met with suspicion. Some parents doubted the safety of the oral polio vaccine, while rumours and religious misconceptions hindered immunisation coverage.
Health workers faced rejection and sometimes hostility as they went from house to house, leaving many children unprotected.
In Billiri, this challenge was particularly worrying. Despite the availability of vaccines, misconceptions about immunisation and low awareness threatened to reverse years of progress toward polio eradication.
The turning point came when local leaders, traditional rulers, and faith-based institutions decided to take ownership of the immunisation process with support from partners such as Rotary International, which has been at the forefront of the global fight against polio.
The Billiri Local Government Council, under the leadership of its Chairperson, Mrs Eglah Idris, made child health a top priority. Working closely with the Primary Health Care Department, the council strengthened grassroots engagement and built trust through consistent community dialogue.
Mrs Idris said the progress achieved was the result of teamwork and shared responsibility.
“When the community understands that immunisation is about protecting their own children, resistance disappears,” she explained. “Our role as leaders is to ensure that no child is missed.”
To demonstrate leadership by example, Mrs Idris and her team personally joined health workers in administering oral polio vaccines to children under five during the 2025 World Polio Day commemoration in Bare and Tal wards.
She added that religious and traditional leaders have been using their platforms in churches, mosques, and community gatherings to emphasise the importance of polio vaccination and encourage full participation.
She added that “Religious leaders also used their various platforms to preach the importance of the polio vaccine during sermons in churches and mosques, helping to dispel myths and encourage parents to embrace immunisation”
The Deputy Primary Health Care Coordinator, Mrs Lucy Adamu, said consistent engagement with these trusted figures made a major difference.
“They are the most respected voices in the community,” she noted. “When they speak in favour of vaccination, everyone listens.”
Health workers also adopted culturally sensitive communication strategies — explaining the benefits of immunisation in local languages, involving women’s groups, and using town announcers to spread accurate messages.
Today, the results in Billiri speak for themselves. The local government has recorded no new cases of polio, and vaccination coverage has reached nearly 100 percent acceptance. Parents now see immunisation not as a government programme, but as a shared community responsibility.
Several parents, including Mr. Maikeleng Jonah, Mrs Maryam Bala, Mrs. Jennifer David, and Mrs. Patience Gabriel, said they never miss a vaccination round and have noticed significant improvements in their children’s health.
Support from Rotary International and UNICEF, in collaboration with state and local authorities, has also been instrumental ensuring the timely supply of vaccines, logistics support, and technical supervision.
Billiri’s success offers valuable lessons for other communities still battling vaccine resistance. By empowering local voices, strengthening partnerships, and maintaining transparency, trust can be rebuilt and participation can flourish.
The approach shows that ending polio is not only about vaccines it’s about people. When communities feel ownership of health interventions, progress becomes sustainable.
As the world edges closer to the total eradication of polio, Billiri’s experience demonstrates that the solution lies not in external enforcement, but in grassroots collaboration where unity, trust, and consistent action keep every child safe.
Despite the success, health officials acknowledge that the fight is not over. Occasional challenges such as the spread of misinformation through social media, vaccine logistics, and the arrival of new families in the community require continuous attention.
There is therefore a strong need for ongoing community sensitization, especially as misinformation can easily resurface. Maintaining trust, officials say, must be an ongoing effort, not a one-time success.
Billiri’s story demonstrates that with unity, partnership, and persistence, communities can achieve what once seemed impossible. By turning mistrust into cooperation and fear into action, Billiri is not just keeping polio away it is lighting the path toward a healthier, polio-free future for every child.