Paul ADEPOJU
Every day, around 5am, they make their ways to the popular Iwo Road bridge Ibadan, Nigeria from an isolated hut they've made their home after they were abandoned by their parents who left them in the hands of the lorry driver that drove them from Katsina in northern Nigeria to Ibadan."My mother was not happy but there was nothing she could have done to keep us with our deformities. Our father had 5 wives then, and each of them bore him at least 3 children; our mother gave him 6 children though she lost one to polio. We are the youngest," Mariam said.
She said the spate of polio-associated stigmatization and family disenfranchisement is very high in northern Nigeria and families believe children with the condition will bring bad luck to the family and community.
They said this was why they were forced to leave the area and travelled hundreds of kilometers to the southwest region of Nigeria where residents are believed to be more compassionate on children suffering from polio.
"Since we decided to split up, we noticed that we have been making more money," Isa said. "When we were begging for alms together, many people would just give the money to one of us and would tell us to share it. But now, we are given alms individually."
On the plight of children suffering from polio in northern Nigeria, Isa said the challenges go beyond healthcare and vaccines; he said they experience difficulties in almost every aspect of their lives.
"Once you have polio, people no longer move close to you including relatives and family friends. No one wants to play with a polio-ridden baby. The schools are also hostile because of the non-availability of
support services and special care.
"My sister was psychologically traumatized and I felt devastated when we realized that we may never be able to play football or skip ropes like our age mates."
On why polio remains a healthcare challenge in Nigeria especially in the northern region, Mariam said it has a lot to do with the level of awareness, poverty and wrong choice of immunization ambassadors that would promote the programme in northern Nigeria.
"There is a lot of wrong information spreading around like wildfire on the polio vaccine. Even some highly respected scholars tell our people that it is an attempt by the foreign nations to enslave our people and make the children sterile and senile," she said.
"Who will allow his or her child to take such vaccine?"
On their set goals, they said they would like to go to school and get education.
"Every morning, I see happy young men who are smartly dressed in fine cars, I will like to be like them someday," Isa said.
Mariam however said she would like to become a nurse.
"Every weekday, a nurse gives me money on her way to work. In the evening, she greets me and sometimes gives me some leftovers. One day when I was sick, she gave me some drugs and I got well. I would like to be able to help people like she is helping me," she said.
Before going to school, they said they would like to purchase small tricycles to aid their movements from one point to another.
"As you can see we are using slippers to prevent direct contact with the hot road. But we are already saving and our money should be complete next month. We will first buy her own then we will save money for mine," Isa said.
Nigeria joins the rest of the world today to celebrate the World Polio Day with the goal of totally eradicating polio across the world. Nigeria is the largest reservoir of the wild polio virus in the world and is one of the three countries that are yet to totally eradicate poliomyelitis.
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