Polio torch hits Nigeria

The torch is Rotary International’s attempts to fund global anti-polio efforts as it passes through cities—and the three polio-endemic countries of Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan—before reaching the organisation’s convention in Sao Paolo this June.The “flame”, like the Olympic torch was lit last December in Chennai, India to commemorate India’s becoming polio-free and “to promote the […]

The torch is Rotary International’s attempts to fund global anti-polio efforts as it passes through cities—and the three polio-endemic countries of Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan—before reaching the organisation’s convention in Sao Paolo this June.
The “flame”, like the Olympic torch was lit last December in Chennai, India to commemorate India’s becoming polio-free and “to promote the need to go the last mile in the battle to eradicate this horrible crippling disease,” said Mogboyi Omatsola, governor of Rotary’s Abuja district.
“The presence of the Torch has brought new energy to our efforts so we are obliged to refocus our efforts on polio awareness,” said Omatsola.
India’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ajjampur Rangaiah, who accepted the torch in Abuja on Thursday, said Nigeria was taking the steps India took shortly before it was declared polio free.
“We fought against polio for 20 years at enormous cost and we are now planning to continue to sustain it,” said Rangaiah. “We want the rest of the world also to be with us.”
Rotary coordinates fund raising from governments, organisations and individuals to complement Nigeria’s spending on polio—and estimates it has spent $1.2 billion since 1985 when the initiative started.