Gov Yero is not welcome to my house —Angry father There was a mild drama on Friday last week at Rigasa, a town in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State when the State Governor Muktar Ramalan Yero was denied entrance into a house in the area to immunize one of the houseowner’s daughters. 46 year old trader, Malam Mohammad Sani Usman Goronnamaye, personally denied the governor access not only to his children but to his house. The incident occurred around 11:am that day in the presence of security personnel, commissioners, Advisers, other top government dignitaries, the press and hundreds of people who gathered to witnessed how the drama would unfold. The drama lasted for an hour as the governor pleaded with the man to allow him into the house to administer the vaccine to the man’s five year old daughter, Farida but he adamantly refused. The governor was at the Primary Health Care Center in the area to flag-off another round of polio immunization in the State. It was part of the programme’s agenda for him to enter some homes and immunize at least a child personally so as to convince parents that the vaccine is safe for their children. It was also gathered that the government chose to flag-off the immunization exercise in the area because it was among the non-compliant areas in the state. Most of the residents are totally against the vaccine hence the decision to kick off the vaccination exercise there with the hope that the presence of the governor would encourage the residents to bring out or allow their wards to be immunized. Therefore, the two houses the governor was to enter, were deliberately selected because both were located opposite the Primary Health Care clinic. The first house the governor visited was that of Malam Sani, a father of 12 who is known to be totally against the vaccine in the area. So, when the governor approached the house with the intention of going inside to immunize the man’s daughter, he was denied entrance by the landlord. Sani’s reason was that first, he was not informed that the governor was coming to his house as courtesy demanded. Secondly, he dislikes polio vaccine as a person, saying despite his dislikes for it, he cannot stop those interested in the vaccine to apply it on their children. He said “ The governor no matter his position as far as I am concerned, cannot be compared to my close neighbour.” This is because, if any problem befalls me, before any of my blood brother comes to my aid, my neighbour will be the first to come. “I owned this house 20 years ago. Those who brought the governor to my house, if they wanted to be just to me, they would have informed me before his arrival so that I will be ready. I am not a stranger to the staff of the clinic. They should have informed me of the governor’s visit even though I am against the vaccine. But none of them did that. “I was not aware of his arrival. I was inside the house working on my rappers when I heard noise in front of my house. So, I came out to see what was happening and was wearing only shorts. When I came out, I surprisingly saw some commissioners and security men at my gate. Then I heard one of them saying they are going into my house. “So, I asked, why my house? They said ‘to immunize my children’. Then I said it will not be possible. I was thinking it was a joke but one of the soldiers attached to the governor made a statement that infuriated me because he said that most of the residents of Rigasa are foreigners.That statement made me angry. “So I told him that even if they are going to kill me I will not allow the governor to enter my house. I also told the soldier that if not for his uniform, I am sure if they ask him to make such a statement in my presence he cannot do that because I would teach him a lesson. “I also said in the governor’s presence that even if President Jonathan is to come here, I will not allow them to immunize my child. So, the governor held my hand but I told him that this is not his house and so, I will not allow him in. He pleaded with me to allow him but I refused,” he said Malan sani explained that the governor asked if he knew him? And he replied saying he did. “I said yes, I know him as the state governor but I will still not allow him to immunize my child. I told the governor that I have nothing against him, personally but I will not allow him to immunize my child,” he said. After about an hour, the security men threatened to use force against him and so, Malam Sani threw the girl at them to immunize her. “I gave them the girl because they threatened to use force on me and that was what I precisely wanted them to say. They only immunized her by force not with my consent,” he said. According to him, why can’t the government use the huge amount of funds spend on providing polio vaccine on providing malaria vaccines to people free of charge? “If they are serious about helping us the poor, why didn’t they distribute free malaria vaccine which is another disease that kills Nigerians?,” he asked angrily Meanwhile, after the drama, Governor Yero proceeded to Sani’s neigbour’s house and without wasting time, the 90 year old Malam Sa’idu Jibril opened his door warmly to the governor. According to the old man who said he has about 100 grandchildren, there was no reason to stop the governor access to his old house. “I always allow health workers into my house to vaccinate my grand children. So, when I saw the governor in my house, I was so happy because I never expected that in my life time, the governor will come to my house,” he said. Governor Yero who look very impressed with the old man’s acceptance of the vaccine, decided to renovate the old man’s dilapidated mud house. “The governor looked at me and said as long as he is still alive, he will build a three bedroom flat for me. This really made me happy because I never expected it. As you can see, my house is really in bad shape,” he said. On whether he only accepted the vaccination because he wanted a favour from the governor, the octogenarian said “never”. “That is not true! Because even before the governor came to my house or to this area, I happened to be among the people that accepted the vaccine in the neighbourhood . I think he only promised to build the house for me out of goodwill,” he said. Peoples Daily Weekend also gathered that already some officials have gone to the site to inspect the old man’s house. “Honestly, before I used to be sick but since the governor promised to rebuild my house, I always feel strong day by day,” he said smiling. The village Head, Malam Adamu Garba Raba frowned at Malam Sani’s attitude towards the governor. “ We are not happy with what he did to the state governor. This is because we that he respected also respect the governor. So, we expected him to respect the governor. Polio vaccine is not dangerous as they are made to believe,” he said. He therefore, appealed to people to please change their attitude towards the vaccine because it is safe to use. Malam Sani was later asked how he felt to see his neighbour’s house going to be renovated courtesy of the governor. He ironically said, “ let my house be turned to pigeon’s cage because I rejected the vaccine”
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 08:50:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015