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[OPINION] ADC: Death, Onikoyi And A Hunter’s Pouch

Published

6 months ago

July 6, 2025

By Festus Adedayo

Death does not kill alone/Nor does he fight singly/He goes to war with plenty of warriors…/He sends Disease first/He sends Paralysis next/He sends Loss/He sends Curses…/Death finally comes to kill the hunter’s father/Who drinks now of heavenly water.”

The lines above are from Professor Bade Ajuwon’s, ‘Ogun’s Iremoje: A philosophy of Living and Dying’, taken from Sandra Barnes’ ‘Africa’s Ogun: Old World and New’. It is a chant (Ìrèmòje) by one Lamidi in Akeetan, Oyo, Oyo State in 1976 for Ogundele, a deceased hunter.

Ìrèmòje is Yorùbá poetic dirge sung at funerals of hunters. The bards, in total submission, acknowledge that no armour is strong enough to shield fate. They employ the imagery of the hunter’s pouch, the English man calls it the quiver, the Yoruba hunter calls it the apó. Mourning bards lament that Death kills the hunter like one without the apó. Death kills a sick Babalawo like one whose vestry isn’t full of curative barks and roots. To reinforce this, Yoruba again say that what will be the death of the hunter lurks right there inside his apó.

A strong Yorubaman from the hinterland that he is, President Bola Tinubu must have listened to countless lines of Ìrèmòje like the above. Since Wednesday when the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was launched, expropriating the wisdom in those hunters’ dirges, the Nigerian president must have realized that the firm ground upon which the giant, (Ominran) stands could suddenly become slippery, leading to his fatal fall.

The bard in the Ogundele chant above would seem to have compared the ADC warriors warring against Tinubu to Death’s strike. The launch of ADC last Wednesday may be the first battalion that Death, those who want to unseat the president, sent to warn him.

Though oxymoronic, a great man can fall to his own folly and vanity. Irish poet, Oscar Wilde, once brought out this oxymoron in his The Picture of Dorian Gray when he said, “a great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of all creatures.” This Wilde saying may be the purport behind a folktale told to children in pre, colonial and even immediate post-colony of Yorubaland. It was the story of a mythical valiant warrior who, either out of excessive power or inability to realize the fault lines of his prowess, transformed into a crocodile.

Powerful and dreaded, the warrior, who had magical ability to transform into an animal, one day decided to repeat this magical wizardry. He asked that a traditional mat be brought out. As he laid on it, with a white cloth spread over him, by the time the cloth was unwrapped, he had transformed into a huge crocodile. Since, in the words of same Oscar Wilde, no man can be too careful in the choice of his enemies, the warrior’s friends immediately turned against him. Having found out that the only taboo against that animal transformation wizardry was raindrops, the warrior’s friends ganged up and decided to invoke a torrent of rain.

The Delesolu compound in Oje, Ibadan North East Local Government of Oyo State, parades this same mythical narration of their ancestry. History has it that the great grandfather of the Delesolus did almost like the warrior in the above crocodile mythology. He, too, transformed into a crocodile. Then rain began to fall on the huge animal. Unable to return to his human form as a result of the raindrops, the distressed crocodile walked helplessly into the bush and into the nearest river. He never returned. Till today, anytime a child is born into the Delesolu family, a live crocodile is placed beside the baby. In 1944, a giant crocodile was brought into the compound as a totem, a reminder to the crocodile progeny that wisdom can kill the wise.

But those who have followed the Nigerian president’s political trajectory compare him to the Onikoyi, a renowned war general in the Oyo empire who lived around the 16th to 17th centuries. So many epithets have been used to describe Tinubu, one of which is that he is a ‘Master strategist.’ Onikoyi too was. Tinubu is so politically fearsome, so they say, that he possesses a mind of his own. Describing him further, they say he is a man who, in the words of award-winning Nigerian author, Chigozie Obioma, in his The Fisherman (2015), is “not the kind of man who would dip his foot in another shoe because his own was damp; he would rather trek the earth on barefoot.”

Onikoyi held command over 1469 men who were famous for fighting to death. They never turned their backs to the enemy. Onikoyi’s war prowess was such that nobody could defeat him.

Like a whirlwind gathers dirt into its concentric circle, erstwhile Tinubu friends gathered at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Center last Wednesday. Virtually all of them were once friends and associates of the Onikoyi. From Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai, Rauf Aregbesola, Rotimi Amaechi etc, the list is endless. It includes David Mark, a man who, as military general, derisively told Nigerians that they were banished forever to a life of impoverishment. And Judas Iscariot Aregbesola. Onikoyi, too, was betrayed by one of his friends whom he favoured severally.

Envious of his valour, other warriors attempted to cut Onikoyi to size, to no avail. They then courted this friend who they paid handsomely to trigger a fight between Onikoyi and a best friend of his. In the battle, Onikoyi killed his friend and the warrior turned into a bush rat, thereafter making the forest his home. The middle friend who betrayed him had a huge tree fall over him, killing him instantly.

Since Wednesday when the ADC unfolded, it will appear that the president and the APC have been losing the messaging war. From far away beautiful Caribbean island Sea of Saint Lucia where he and his principal were ensconced, the message of Death seemed to have hit the presidential team badly. So, Bayo Onanuga sought to remind us that the ADC is an assembly of grousers. While lifting the veil off its leaders one by one and their political sins, he even predicted their waterloo.

Onanuga needed to rewind the clip of his words to hear his own grumpy voice. Nigerians are aware already that right there in the ADC assemblage are political sinners; but, is the APC any better? If he says ADC lacks ideology, what is APC’s ideology? A minister was clearly accused of corruption, of filching billions of the people’s money in collusion with some star boys in the federal executive council. The president sacked her. Till date, she has not been tried. Corruption is said to sit in its imperial glory, just as maggots do on a decomposing meat, in Aso Rock as we speak. A cavalierly looting of Nigerian patrimony, perhaps unprecedented in Nigerian history, is the credo.

So, is political party about sainthood? If sainthood was the qualification for assembling to form a party, the crew that came into federal power in 2015 would not be there. Muhammadu Buhari was a despot who had his hands bespattered with the blood of Bartholomew Owoh, Bernard Ogedengbe and Lawal Ojuolape.

In 2023, Tinubu himself was one of the most unfit persons to be Nigeria’s president if a leader’s past was an index for voters’ consideration. I am not aware of any presidential candidate in the history of Nigeria’s electoral politics who heaved as hefty a baggage into the polls as the ex-Lagos State governor. He however got off into Aso Rock because many Nigerians believed he had the capacity to change their lives. Two years down the line, the reverse is the case. Nigerians crunch suffering as you eat crunchy nuts. All we hear are Marabout statistics of betterment whereas when we go to markets, we are faced with the tyranny of existence under a government in whose veins blood doesn’t seem to flow. So, reminding us of the past of the ADC coalition members is hogwash. It won’t wash.

But the Atiku ADC seems to be getting the messaging right. And Nigerians are listening to it. Though we know its members do not have any redemptive DNA and will also betray us if they ever get into government, their messaging resonates. Is life better for Nigerians now than it was in 2023? To imagine Aregbesola, whose government pauperized the poor Osun State civil servants as he paid them half salary while wasting billions of Naira on a needless airport project, now claiming that ADC is coming to “rescue the poor”! Though he is one of the greatest dis-advertisements of the ADC coalition, notorious for his dunce-like dances (ijó dìndìnrìn) and maladministration, Aregbesola asked an apt question: “Is today better than yesterday, or yesterday was better than today?”

Let suffering Nigerians answer that question. It is a question personal to them. Tinubu has spent two grim years that lacerate Nigerians. The next two years do not seem to offer any hope that life would be better. The people’s sorrow daily remarries them to God as they tend to be more religious these days. It is so bad that, in the words of Wilde, Nigerians, majority of whom are lords of language, lack words to describe their anguish and suffering.

Yet, still in the same words of Wilde, the president and his people “(fill their lives) to the very brim with a life of pleasure, as one might fill a cup to the very brim with wine”. It reminds me of a line in Fuji music lord, Ayinde Marshal’s song. He sang that, the Nigerian life that is so difficult and painful to chew or swallow, is same world some Nigerians at the top eat crushingly like one eating hot yam (Ayé t’énìkan ńyó je, l’àwon kan ńje súà bí eni ńje isu.)

For almost one whole week, the presidency literally relocated and hibernated in Saint Lucia, with no decipherable outcome for Nigerian people. Someday, the real fact of what took the presidency to this tiny island and the amount of the Nigerian wealth incinerated on the jamboree would be revealed. Was our wealth secretly tethered by the feet of Dionysus, Greek god of wine, pleasure and revelry, in Saint Lucia? From Saint Lucia, the presidency is junketing to Brazil for the 17th BRICS Summit. It would be its 18th country to visit in two years.

It is however too early in the day to come to a conclusion of what the coming days will be. Both the ADC and the APC are gathering missiles of war. While I agree with FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, that none of the coalition crew is competent to articulate the anger and hunger of the Nigerian people, the Tinubu government inflicts hunger on the people. In this case, both Tinubu and the coalition group are like the proverbial bedwetter who is incompetent to haggle the price of aro, used by local drycleaners to curtail urine smell. The Nigerian people are capable of articulating their anger. In 2027, it will be evil politicians against the people.

On the surface, Tinubu’s famed wizardry would win him another four years in office. He is Onikoyi reincarnate, isn’t he? However, history tells us of an Onikoyi reincarnate who died on the battlefield where three trees met overhead. His corpse was not discovered until several days after. By this time, his decomposing corpse had been mercilessly half eaten, in the words of Beier, by vultures and “child of the eagle sitting on the silk cotton tree” and “child of the hawk waiting on the camwood tree”.

The braggadocio of the APC group is getting muffled now. The voice of the fawning Senate President who said the president would win 99.5% in the 2027 votes is receding too, no thanks to the coalition. The APC, ADC and the PDP will have to deal with Nigerians’ current reality of hopelessness in the midst of plenty. And tell us why we have to vote for them again. Or else, political Death will kill the Onikoyi like a hunter who lost his apó.

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[OPINION] Osimhen: The Arrogance Of A Ghetto Hero

Published

2 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

Tunde Odesola

Before the raving hawk disappeared into the sunny afternoon sky, the mother hen caught a glimpse of it just in time. Squawking and clucking, the brown mother hen sounded a throaty alarm, frantically calling on her 11 chicks, who sprinted into the sanctuary of her warm wings, where they brooded, peeping through the safety of feathers.

Like witches, hawks on predatory flights don’t make a noise. The screaming and scampering of mother hen after an attack is the first telltale of tragedy. The second telltale is the sight of a dangling chick in clutchy claws, rising helplessly skywards.

On that fateful day, the mother hen brooded her chicks out of sight from a hovering hawk. But a particularly arrogant and belligerent chick called OsinmHEN slipped through the mother’s tail end and decided to play in the hot afternoon sand, chest puffed, shoulders raised like Aso Rock fence.

The hawk sighted the stray prey and flew higher up, and away, out of sight. The mother hen monitored the ravenous hawk with red-alertness, assured her chicks were safe underneath.

Then it happened.

With the swiftness of a whirlwind, the hawk suddenly swept downwards, like a missile deployed from a military jet, grabbing OsinmHEN with both claws, but the protection of the mother hen was comprehensive. In a jiffy, she sprang and smashed into the predator midair, making it lose both balance and grip. And OsinmHEN fell off to safety, limping back under the mother’s brood.

Furious, the mother hen scolded the petulant OsinmHEN, saying it could have ended up in the belly of the hawk if not for providence. Then, as mothers do when warnings fail, mother hen reached for a myth told by Ifa scholar, Ifayemi Elebuibon.

“Listen,” she said, voice laden with solemn grief. “Let me tell you about Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́.”

“Once upon a forest,” the mother hen began, “a mother squirrel received a warning from Ifa: ‘keep your son indoors for seven days, death prowls’. However, on the third day, Baby Squirrel sprinted out from the family burrow, waving his bushy tail from one tree to another. The forest was quiet. ‘There are no predators,’ he thought.

“He didn’t hear the gun. But the forest did. The boom shook leaves loose from branches.

“When she heard the shot, Iya Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́, the mother squirrel, ran deeper into the burrow, looking for her son. Little ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ was nowhere in sight. Panic gripped the mother. She couldn’t sleep. So, she went in search of her son all evening and all night. As she was returning home, hiding behind trees, she stopped in front of the hunter’s house, out of sight.

“Behold, by a flickering firelight, she saw the hunter and his family having a dinner of pounded yam and egusi. From behind a fallen trunk, she peered. And she saw the head of her son floating in the family soup, and the hunter grabbed the head, stroked it ‘ko, ko’ in the plate to shake off some egusi, before airlifting it to the mouth.

“Iya Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ shook her head and shed the tears of a mother, saying: ‘Orí ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ koko láwo, bí a wí fún ọmọ ẹni, ọmọ ẹni a gbọ́.’”

Of the mother hen’s 11 chicks, only OsinmHEN refused to understand the Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ myth and the consequences of disobedience. Blinded by arrogance, OsinmHEN, who thinks himself a hawk, is bound to walk the path of self-destruction soon again.

And so, in the distant Moroccan city called Fez, Nigeria’s Super Eagles fearsome striker, Victor Osimhen, replayed the ancient tragedies of OsinmHEN and Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́.

It was in a round of 16 match against Mozambique at the ongoing African Cup of Nations soccer tournament, Super Eagle Osimhen exhibited the traits of Super Chicken OsinmHEN. Nigeria was leading 3-0, and Osimhen had scored two of the three goals, with fellow striker Ademola Lookman scoring the opening goal and providing two assists.

In a moment of arrogant madness, Osimhen, who once hawked ‘pure water’ and sold newspaper in the city of Lagos, pushed away the hand of his cautioning captain, Wilfred Ndidi, and launched a verbal attack on his more decorated teammate, Ademola Lookman, pointing accusing finger at him, as he belched, “No try am again, no try am again,” like a member of the renowned union of road transport workers.

In the glare of a shell-shocked world, Osimhen proved once again that you may take a lizard from Olusosun to Turkey, it will never become a crocodile. No matter how long irú (locust beans) stays in the soup, it will not lose its smell.

Let’s imagine for a moment that Lookman had the temperament of Yomi Peters, the dreadful Stationery Stores FC of Lagos playermaker, notorious for beating up referees. Known as Mudashiru Atanda, Peters changed his name to Yomi Peters when he came back from suspension for head-butting referee Bolaji Festus Okubule. In the 1980-1990 era of rampant fan attacks, many referees feared Peters more than they feared fans.

In the height of his arrogance, if he played in the national team of yesteryears, Osimhen could never have pushed away former captains of the national team, such as Chairman Christian Chukwu, Segun Odegbami, Stephen Keshi, Yobo Joseph, Sunday Oliseh, Austin Eguavoen, etc., as he shoved aside captain Ndidi, before unleashing unnecessary assault on Lookman.

Can he shove aside any of Tarila Okorowanta, Etin Esin, Daniel Amokachi, Taribo West, Bright Omokaro and Sunday Eboigbe, or launch a verbal assault on them? Osimhen no go try am, walahi. Otherwise, di match for turn into a mixed martial free-for-all, with players losing their teeth.

Were it not for emotional maturity on the part of Ndidi and Lookman, Osimhen, by his childish attitude, would have put a knife to the bond of unity in the team, and things would have fallen apart because a house divided against itself can never stand.

Osimhen’s outburst sheds light on how people in positions of authority look down on people they consider beneath them. It is an on-the-pitch reenactment of how Nigerian security agencies, military and police, especially, oppress fellow Nigerians just because they bear guns.

This oppressive mindset formed the motivation behind a retired Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, grabbing a large portion of unapproved land in Abuja, building on it a sprawling edifice that his life’s savings cannot justify, yet turned around to deploy armed soldiers to guard the property when FCT authorities asked him to provide approval documents for the land.

Raised in the Olusosun ghetto of Lagos, Osimhen, as a child, had seen an established pattern of ‘might is right’ in everyday Nigeria and has imbibed loud talk, threat and arrogance as a way of life. Osimhen was the one who went on social media to curse his coach, Finidi George, and Nigerian Football Federation members over a misunderstanding.

He said, “Ẹni ku’re, walahi talahi (It shall not be well with you in God’s name). I don lose all the respect wey I get for dat man (Finidi).” He burst into a Yoruba curse, “Ti alale ba ni ko da fun yin, alaro o ni ye yin, meaning ‘if the evening god decrees goodness for you, morning god will decree evil for you’. Ogun kill anybody, anybody wey dey believe all those nonsense. I tell am (Finidi) say make I come camp, make I come follow di boys dem talk. Make I come follow dem dey. I spoke with my fellow teammates, too. Wetin im (Finidi) tell me, ‘Oh no, you know, you have to be with the family; oh dis, oh dat. (So,) I go dey live my life dey go, I face my life dey go. But team don lose now, una wan find person wey dey at fault, na me wey dey nurse my injury una come think say una wan put my name because of say Super Eagles get two bad games, I know how many injuries weyI don use play. Ẹni ku’reni ku’re se! All of una no go die better. I no go allow one person to come and say, ‘you can’t beg Osimhen to come and play, wetin bi say you can’t beg wetin?’”

Three months after Osimhen’s outburst, Finidi reacted, saying, “The meeting we had, we never talked about Osimhen at all. The only time Osimhen’s name came up was when the minister talked about hearing about indiscipline while we were at the AFCON, and he mentioned Osimhen’s name.

“It was in that meeting, I think one of the officials, I don’t know who, called him or sent him a message because they wanted to save their heads as the minister was very furious about the team not doing well.

“Someday, he is going to realise it’s not true. I think they used him because they wanted to save their heads because of bad results. It’s better they talked about Finidi George than the real issues, and it’s quite unfortunate that he came up live and said those things.

“I sent him a message to tell him that’s not the best way to go about lying. From that point, I didn’t hear from him; he didn’t apologise. Since then, I’ve moved on. I wish everybody well.”

A more emotionally mature player would not have taken to social media to rant against his coach on such a misunderstanding, an action which further reinforces Osimhen’sarrogant mentality because he did not rant against Napoli FC authorities when they blocked his move away from the club. He knows very well that doing so might affect his career.

What Osimhen fails to realise is that his on-field and off-field antics put a question mark on his emotional intelligence – an asset in modern football. As the world has become a cyber village, the actions of popular personalities are splashed on social media, enabling football scouts, in Osimhen’s own case, to see what elite footballers are up to.

Exposing the volatility of Osimhen’s emotional state, his viral outburst against Finidi showed him threatening to beat up those with him when he was recording the video over what he deemed as interference during the recording. For someone who emerged from such a humble beginning as Osimhen, a modicum of humility is expected to temper their life.

The Lookman and Finidi episodes are not the only avoidable clashes Osimhen has had in his soccer career. During a World Cup qualifier in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Osimhen walked out on his teammates after Zimbabwe equalised, owing to goalkeeper Nwabali’s mistake in the dying minutes of the match. If he was annoyed that Nigeria drew the match, why did he not score enough goals to ensure victory for the Super Eagles? On countless occasions, Nwabali had saved the Super Eagles’ blushes when he (Osimhen) and other outfield players failed to live up to expectations. Tactically speaking, Nwabali contributed more to the Super Eagles than Osimhen during the World Cup qualifiers.

To describe Osimhen’s tantrums as passion is to call a two-year-old baby who loves playing with fire, as courageous. Indulgence breeds impunity. Indulgence in collective sports breeds disunity and kills team spirit.

Sharing his thoughts with me, a colleague and sports aficionado, Adekunle Salami, described Osimhen as ranking among the five best strikers in the world today. He said, “Every striker wants to score. Every midfielder wants to lay that match-defining pass, every defender wants to make that goal-thwarting block. Football is a passionate game. However, in all of this, football is a game that operates on a strict code of conduct because so many people, children especially, watch it.

“Therefore, players must be seen to be of good conduct. I love Osimhen. I love his dedication to the national team, but he must show respect to his fellow teammates. We must remember Osimhen is from the slum. He was taught life’s hard lessons on the street. Struggling has been a way of life for him; we must remember that. But this is not to give room for the bad attitude he is exhibiting. He should have waited for the game to end and then gone to Lookman and told him about how he felt. We were leading 3-0, and you have scored twice, what else do you want? Some people have not scored. Akor has not scored.

“After the Mozambique match, all the players prayed together. He just stormed out of the field, threw his accreditation away, and went to the dressing room. He even threatened to leave for Turkey. They should have allowed him to go. He is the one who would be hurt, not Nigeria. It is a privilege to play for Nigeria; he must not abuse the privilege. He cannot misbehave in Galatasaray, his Turkish team, because they have a code of conduct. Osimhen has grown in this disrespectful and distasteful behaviour because he was never sanctioned.”

Another sports guru, Festus Abu, said the issue should not be overflogged, adding that such things happen in football. “It is one of those things in football. But it becomes worrisome when it turns into a recurring decimal. The coach and his team should ensure that the incident does not escalate into an albatross. I hope Osimhen has learnt his lessons.”

Nothing blinds like arrogance. Ademola Lookman, whom Osimhen talked disrespectfully to on the pitch, is even more decorated than him. Lookman plays for a bigger club in a bigger league and has made more impact in Europe than Osimhen, scoring a hat-trick in a European Cup final. In the ongoing competition, Lookman has scored the same number of goals as him, but has more goal contributions, earning him two Man-of-the-Match awards.

Osimhen, bring your shoulders down, biko.

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com

Facebook: @Tunde Odesola

X: @Tunde_Odesola

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NMA To Withdraw Medical Services In Edo Over Kidnapped Colleagues

Published

7 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Edo State Branch, has threatened to withdraw medical services across the state, effective from Saturday, 10 January, 2026.

This followed the recent abduction of two medical doctors on January 1st and 2nd, 2026.

Chairman of the NMA Edo State branch, Dr. Eustace Oseghale, in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin on Friday, stated that the withdrawal of services was a direct consequence of the abduction of their colleagues and a reflection of the heightened sense of vulnerability among medical practitioners in the state.

Oseghale, on behalf of the NMA, called for immediate release of the abducted doctors and implementation of measures to prevent future incidents.

The statement reads: “This incident raises concerns about healthcare professionals’ safety in Edo State, threatening their lives and undermining healthcare delivery.

“We demand the immediate release of our abducted colleagues as well as enhanced security protocols for Edo State residents and regular engagement between NMA Edo and the Edo State Government on security concerns.”

The NMA Chairman, while insisting on withdrawal of services statewide if their demands aren’t met, stressed that a safe working environment is crucial for healthcare providers.

“We’ll continue to withhold services until our demands are met and colleagues are safe.

“We urge a swift resolution and the safe return of our colleagues. Security operatives should take this seriously, as they’ll be held responsible for the consequences of our action,” Oseghale said.

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Edo Targets 2.2 Million Children For Measles, Rubella Vaccination

Published

19 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Editor

The Edo State Government says it is targeting about 2.2 million children aged between 0 and 14 years for measles and rubella vaccination across the state.

The Director of Disease Control and Immunization at the Edo State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Eseigbe Efeomon, who disclosed this during stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting in Benin City, said this would be done in collaboration with development partners.

Efeomon, while noting that the vaccination exercise scheduled to hold simultaneously from January 20 to January 30, 2026, across the 18 local government areas of Edo State at designated health facilities and temporary vaccination posts, said the campaign aims to contribute significantly to the reduction of measles and rubella in Nigeria.

He explained that achieving this target requires increased population immunity through sustained vaccination.

Dr. Efeomon stressed that only qualified and certified health workers would be recruited as vaccinators because the vaccines are injectable.

According to him, the vaccination strategy would involve fixed posts and temporary fixed posts, and vaccination cards would be issued to all vaccinated children as proof, which parents and caregivers are advised to keep for future reference.

He added that vaccination teams would visit schools, churches, mosques, markets, motor parks, internally displaced persons’ camps and other public places, while children who receive the vaccine would be finger-marked to prevent double vaccination.

He reiterated that the overarching goal of the campaign is to drastically reduce rubella incidence nationwide and protect children from preventable diseases through effective immunisation coverage.

Also speaking, the World Health Organization Local Government Facilitator, Mr. Ajaero Paul, described measles and rubella as major causes of death and congenital abnormalities among children globally.

He said both diseases are preventable through the measles-rubella vaccine, which he described as safe and effective,

He added that sustained advocacy is critical to reducing child mortality and lifelong disabilities.

On his part, UNICEF Social and Behavioural Change Health Officer, Yakubu Suleiman, emphasised that the measles-rubella vaccine is safe and effective for all children aged nine months to 14 years.

He stated that the government has fully paid for the vaccines, making them available at no cost to all eligible children in government health facilities across the state.

Suleiman explained that vaccination not only protects individual children but also safeguards communities from deadly vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and rubella.

He added that even children who had previously received the measles vaccine should still be given the measles-rubella vaccine and appealed to schools and other key stakeholders to support the campaign to ensure that no child is left behind.