Governor Abdulaziz Yari of
Zamfara State has said that the outbreak of
Type C Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the country was a direct punishment from God to the people of Nigeria for their various sinful acts.
Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari
He said that God had always sent strange illnesses which had no cure to torment the
people for turning their back on Him.
Yari whose State appeared to be worst hit
by the disease spoke with State House
Correspondents at the presidential Villa
Abuja after a private meeting with
President Muhammdu Buhari on Tuesday .
Reports say that over 200 persons had
dead while several others are receiving
treatment at various hospitals and clinics.
The scary situation had also prompted
some Medical Doctors under the aegis of
Nigeria Medical Association, Zamfara state
chapter to accuse the state government of
not being proactive despite some warning.
Yari said: “What we used to know as far as
meningitis is concerned is the type A virus.
The World Health Organization, WHO, has
carried out vaccinations against this type A
virus not just in Zamfara, but many other
states.
“However, because people refused to stop
their nefarious activities, God now decided
to send Type C virus, which has no
vaccination.
“People have turned away from God and he
has promised that ‘if you do anyhow, you
see anyhow’ that is just the cause of this
outbreak as far as I am concerned.
“There is no way fornication will be so
rampant and God will not send a disease
that cannot be cured.”
The governor who dismissed insinuations
of non proactiveness by his government
however said that he had called an
emergency meeting of all stakeholders,
ranging top state and local government
officials to traditional rulers to address the
issue, saying that “the meeting came out
with a strategy to be adopted and the
money required to deal with the outbreak
and a lot of work is going on”.
According to Yari, only 5 million dose of
the vaccine against the Type C virus was
available globally.
He said that the dosage would not be
enough for his state.
He however stated that Federal Ministry of
Health has only 50,000 doses of the
vaccine, out of which 20,000 was given
state.
He said: “That is not enough for Zamfara
people alone, not to talk of Katsina or
Kano.
“Our Focus as a state now is to continue
treating those who are infected with the
disease, but as for vaccination, it has an
international dimension.
“We have information that Nigeria will get
the highest percentage of the 5 million
doses available now. Apart from WHO,
other International bodies such as the Bill
Gates foundation and UNICEF are also
currently focusing on how to tackle the
outbreak”.
As a solution to the problem, Yari asked
the people to repent from their sinful ways
and embraced God, expressing optimism
that the epidemic would be tackled.
“The most important thing is for our people
to know that their relationship with God is
not smooth. All they need to do is repent
and everything will be all right”, he said.
Reacting to a question of whether it was
only the people and not the leaders that
needed repentance, Yari exonerated the
leaders, saying there were only the
messengers.
“Leaders are doing their best by
enlightening the populace and working
assiduously for the good of all.
“Your major assignment as a leader is to
convey the message; you cannot go from
house to House and arrest offenders for
instance,” he said
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