The Nigerian government has delivered two million doses of polio vaccines to Kebbi State as part of a nationwide immunisation campaign targeting children under the age of five.

The vaccine supply, facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Health through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, is part of efforts to halt the circulation of polio variants and strengthen immunity among vulnerable children.

Yusuf Umar Sauwa, spokesperson for the Kebbi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, confirmed the development, describing the vaccines as potent booster doses capable of interrupting transmission.

“These vaccines will strengthen immunity among children and ensure the virus does not resurface,” he said.

Sauwa added that Kebbi currently has zero reported cases of polio, attributing this to the state’s strong surveillance and routine immunisation systems.

To address issues of non-compliance and vaccine rejection, particularly in areas such as Jega, Koko, and Birnin Kebbi, religious and traditional leaders have been actively engaged to help dispel misinformation and promote vaccine acceptance.

A professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Ibadan, Victor Ifeolu Akinmoladun has declared that pro-inflammatory diets such as sugary drinks, refined carbohydrates, processed meats, fried foods including persistent inflammation are the major causes of oral cancer.

Akinmoladun made the assertion while delivering the 582nd inaugural lecture of the University of Ibadan.

The don while delivering the lecture titled, “The Scalpel and the Laboratory: Collaboration Against the Lawless”, maintained that cancer is a major societal, public health, and socioeconomic problem in the 21st century.

He added that cancer causes 3 in 10 global premature deaths from non-communicable diseases, NCDs, in those aged 30 to 69 years.

Akinmoladun while addressing the gathering said cancer is responsible for almost one in six of all deaths and one in four deaths from NCDs worldwide, adding that head and neck cancer (HNC) is ranked at between 6th to 10th most common cancers in the world.

He described the relationship between inflammation and cancer as an agreement between two individuals or groups of persons to achieve an unlawful or illegal and harmful goal, often with fatal consequences.

The don affirmed that higher vegetable and fruit consumption have protective effects on cancers of the stomach, oesophagus, lung, oral cavity, pharynx, and colon.

He maintained that micronutrients such as zinc, copper and selenium along with antioxidants as well as vitamins are required for the production of various enzymes that help prevent DNS damage caused by free radicals and also maintain the integrity of mucosal surfaces.

He added that cancer is not exactly the direct consequence of a failed immune system or a compromised system but they can significantly contribute to cancer development, while the understanding of the compromises forms the basis for immune therapy against cancers.

He also recommended supplements rich in antioxidants and single-carbon metabolism, vitamins, in addition to lifestyle changes, particularly the avoidance of alcohol and tobacco use.

He said that “Many cancers are known to be induced by chronic inflammation, while many more are sustained by it.

“Soluble and cellular inflammatory mediators such as cytokines are responsible for tumour initiation and associated with progression in some cancer cases including head and neck cancers.

“Figures on the burden of the disease are difficult to obtain in Nigeria, data on survival in oral cancer is also hardly available’.

Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, says Nigerians should stop medical tourism and start producing its own drugs locally.

Dangote stated this during a panel discussion at the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers event held in Lagos on Wednesday.

The richest black man, while emphasizing the need for every Nigerian, including the rich to be able to treat themselves in Nigeria when they fall sick, hinted that it was important to partner with Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation to achieve this.

“What we need to do is to make sure we stop this health tourism and we should now get in to start producing our own drugs.

“We should now make sure that when we are sick, we don’t have to travel abroad, all of us, but we need to do a partnership with Bill (Gates),” he said.

Africa’s richest man recalled that the Dangote Foundation through partnership with the Gates Foundation has helped to end Polio in Nigeria and did quite a lot in improving nutrition.

According to him, in terms of business, his company has done a lot by reversing a lot of things, adding that Nigeria used to be the second largest importer of cement in the world but now it exports cement more than any other African country.

Dangote also highlighted how farmers previously struggled to access fertilizer, but today, he has built the second-largest fertilizer plant in the world from the ground up.

“So, Nigeria now, not only export, we actually export 37% of our fertilizer to the United States of America,” he said.

Speaking on petroleum, Dangote maintained that he did what nobody has ever done before by building 650,000bpd refinery, revealing that in the month of May 2025 alone, the Dangote Refinery exported 400,000 metric tons of petrol.

According to him, this has ended Nigeria’s dependency on imported petrol, as the country no longer imports the product.

Ekwutosblog reports that the Goalkeepers event, which was hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the first time in Lagos, brought together global leaders, policymakers, and change makers to assess progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs.

Other notable dignitaries at the event included Bill Gates Dangote; the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and the Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, among others.