The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Bauchi state government have flagged off a 7-day immunisation exercise to vaccinate 127,550 children in Toro local government area of the state.

Musa Danladi, Local Immunisation Officer (LIO), Toro LGA, stated this in an interview with newsmen in Toro on Tuesday.

According to him, the goal was to reach the children to further tackle polio related diseases, child mortality and all vaccine preventable diseases as well as to improve child health in the LGA.

He said with the collaborative efforts of UNICEF, Bauchi state government and the World Health Organization (WHO), 32 ward focal persons and Field Volunteers had been trained at the LGA level for the exercise.

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Danladi explained that the exercise was flagged off in Tilde Ward due to its little history of vaccine non-compliance.

“We have a team of vaccinators that are also going street by street to immunise the children outside their houses.

“We have the Novel Oral Polio Vaccines which our house to house team carry along with them to ensure that all the eligible children from zero months to 59 months are immunized.

“We also have a fixed post, stationed in one location in each of the 17 wards where they get children from zero to 23 months and give them all the vaccine antigen like the NOPV, BCG, Hepatitis B, IVV, PCV among others,” he said.

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The LIO, who said that there was 99 per cent vaccine compliance in the local government, added that the feat was achievable due to the utmost support received from the LGA chairman to complement UNICEF and the state government.

“UNICEF is also supporting our community leaders, vaccine campaign mobilizers, and our town announcers.

“It was UNICEF and other development partners that facilitated the supply of all the vaccines and if there are no vaccines, the vaccination of these 127,550 eligible children wouldn’t be possible,” said Danladi.

He called on the people to redouble their efforts in complying with all the vaccination campaigns and ensure that all the eligible children were vaccinated in order for the LGA to be free from vaccine preventable diseases.

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Also speaking, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, explained that UNICEF over 1.7 million eligible children had been reached and vaccinated in the state.

She said one of UNICEF’s strategies in saving children’s life, keeping them healthy and making them reach their potential is immunisation.

“There were thousands of children with zero dose vaccines in UNICEF’s intervention states who have now been reached and immunised.

“There have been so many children in the most vulnerable, most deprived and most remote areas where UNICEF teams have reached and immunised,” she boasted.

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Ahmed Suleiman, Consultant with Magama Primary Healthcare Centre, Toro, said a lot of parents have taken their eligible children to the centre for vaccination as team had been mobilised to senstitise them on the importance of the vaccine.

Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, the Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board (BSPHDB) said there were still few rejection cases across the state which he assured, would be tackled.

He ascribed frequent conduction of vaccination exercises to the rejection as people were feeling there would be an overdose in the children’s body due to ignorance.

“Like in this year, this is the third one and we have been doing it over years so they think there is an overdose and they are getting tired of it because of ignorance,” he said.

The Bauchi state government says it has opened an employment portal to recruit 10,000 citizens of the state into different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Gov. Bala Mohammed disclosed this in Bauchi on Friday prior to the commencement of stakeholders’ meeting on the employment.

Mohammed, who said that the meeting was to engage stakeholders on how the employment would be done, added that a lot of the citizens of the state have started applying on the portal.

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“I invited you here because the Head of Service has come up with a template and he has given us the gist of the employment of 10,000 so far.

“There are 214 jobs with 5,669 vacancies that are available in 18 MDAs, and all the people from the council’s have applied.

“The advert has generated a lot of interest, and so I don’t know how to navigate this. I must source for your resourcefulness.

“I must get your contribution, so that together we will do it with justice and equity.

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“Not just to allocate everything for political expediency or the so-called people on the high table will go and share the vacancies,” he said.

Mohammed explained that the Head of Service had said that only 5,669 vacancies were available at the moment, promising that the rest would be employed next year.

He called on all the stakeholders to be just and equitable while charting the way the employment would be executed.

Paris Saint-Germain were ordered to pay their former forward Kylian Mbappe up to 61 million euros ($71.8 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses by a French labour court on Tuesday.

France captain Mbappe, who left PSG in June 2024 to join Real Madrid, had been claiming over 260 million euros in total from his former club.

PSG in turn had demanded Mbappe pay them 440 million euros.

Mbappe, 26, also claimed the Parisian club applied the wrong French legal classification to his contract, but that was rejected by the court.

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The labour court said the final figure of between 60 million and 61 million euros was made up of 55 million euros in unpaid salary and around six million euros in holiday payments.

Qatari-owned PSG did not immediately say if they intend to appeal.

Lawyers for Mbappe said in a statement they “noted with satisfaction the decision given by the labour court”.

“It re-establishes a simple truth — even in the professional football industry, labour laws apply to everyone,” the lawyers added in a statement.

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The French club had said they were basing the figure they were claiming in part on a botched 300m-euro transfer to Saudi club Al Hilal which Mbappe refused in June 2023.

Mbappe left for Real Madrid on a free transfer when his contract expired the following summer.
He insisted he made no agreement in 2023 to waive any payment from the club.

Mbappe initially filed a complaint in June over the way he was treated by PSG at the start of the 2023-24 season.

Mbappe argues that he was sidelined by PSG and made to train with players the club were trying to offload after refusing to agree a new contract.

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It is a widespread practice that in France prompted the players’ union to lodge a complaint last year.

Mbappe was not invited to take part in PSG’s 2023 pre-season tour of Asia and missed the first game of that season but was later recalled to the team after holding talks with the club.

After seven seasons with PSG he joined Real Madrid where he earns a reported annual salary of 30m euros.

Mbappe scored 256 goals in 308 games for PSG but the club won the Champions League for the first time last season following his departure.
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