It is not a new story about how most traditional Hausa/Fulani Muslims frown at the idea of free inoculation thinking that there is something hidden in it.
The reality is that if nothing is done about this, we would end up seeing more disabled beggars across the country.

But thank goodness, the executive Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, a veteran teacher, unionist and administrator turned politician has in the past seven years done wonder in the state such that there has been only one reported (new) case of polio in the state since the past two years.

However, there is really a good deal of work to be done here; a blend of western orientation/ education with Islamic education, as well as Hausa/Fulani cultures must be seen as a policy strategy which can help save a whole lot of lives.

Muslims don’t have to convert to Christianity to access western education or modern health care. After-all, the joy and pride of Saudi Arabia today, which is the headquarters of Islam, could not have been achieved without western links, and Saudi can boast of some of the best hospitals and scientific developments in the world.

Today, there are lots of chemicals in the air, food and water which we consume, and the environment is no longer natural, so it would make no sense to depend wholly on the supposedly natural environment for anything. We need to flow with the changing times and use our natural environment to better the lots of the people through research and development.

The search for better living conditions is a life-long one, of course there is nothing like a dormant activity. Therefore, the inventions and innovations that ensue from scientific inquiries-be they laboratory or social, should not be regarded as evil, but rather employed in the sustenance of life.

The task before government(s) goes beyond giving or providing physical objects; they should equally endeavour to open the minds of the people to see the reality of life and modernity thereby emancipating them from what I would call ‘culturigious slavery’, otherwise the reality of changes and their benefits would elude the people.

I see investment in education and health as a waste if efforts are not made to put the improvised and available structures into proper and productive use, yet certain areas are denied of such sought-after projects and programmes because what their areas are allocated through the quota system comes short of their demand.

The north should take education and health very seriously and do something reasonable about forced and childhood marriages, which equally have another course in the health challenges of the country, the VVF palaver. Parents, community leaders, religious leaders and government(s) alike must all be held accountable for the woes of the land. They must rise up to the challenges of the age! And the time is now.