17 November 2005 - His may be a family of nine with three cripples – including himself and his wife, but Aminu Ahmed Tudun-Wada, Chairman, Polio Victims Trust Association (PVTA), is determined to ensure that polio cripples in Kano live respectably, and that no other child in Kano State is again disabled by the disease. At the Katsina Road secretariat of the 26-year old Physically Handicapped Association of Nigeria (PHAN) under which is PVTA (established in 1990) and the Para Soccer Team (since 1980), the cripples have a place to call home . Their medal-winning team’s hit man Rabiu Lawan, better known as “Oruma” – after one of Nigeria’s football stars – was one of those who came around.

Metal products built by members, including wheelchairs on display, are the first indicators of the focus of PHAN which not only discourages members from begging but is supporting their formal or non-formal education. One of the beneficiaries of such support is Yusuf Umar, Secretary, PVTA, who is studying at Kano’s College of Education.

The polio association is steadily making a mark in all kinds of ways, despite its limited resources. Through its intervention, Fatima – daughter of Malama Memunat was granted a place in Rainbow Nursery and Primary School in Hotoro at reduced fees. The school is owned by a Rotarian who now applies the rule to other polio victims. Samaila Shuaibu from Zaria who came to the PHAN compound on his own, is being fed and cared for by members of PVTA, for wounds sustained in an accident.

Members of the PVTA have also played a key role in social mobilization activities during polio national immunization days (NIDs), particulary in the enlightenment of other disabled persons, Islamic scholars and Koranic school teachers. They also reach out to sensitize the community about the safety of oral polio vaccine (OPV) and other issues, through audience participation programmes on Radio Kano. During the September (NIDs), 97 members were trained for the first time and participated as part of the immunization teams.

In his personal house in the Brigade Area of Kano, Aminu Tudun-Wada recollects how many of his school mates made it to the top in the military, private sector and politics, and how his condition has made such progress difficult. When the fever which led to his paralysis started, Aminu was taken to the native doctor, rather than the hospital. His wife Hadiza, also got paralyzed in the same manner. When their last son Umar – who is paralyzed, showed the symptoms, the family tried the hospitals but it was too late. The time incidentally coincided with the investigation of the OPV by the Kano State government. Today, Aminu and other members of PVTA are united in ensuring the people of Kano appreciate that polio is real and that OPV is key to prevention. He is also committed to the education of his children, using income from metal fabrication and the conversion of motorcycles to three-wheelers for cripples.

Already, the Community Participation for Action in the Social Sector (COMPASS) is exploring further ways to empower the PVTA, strengthen their capacity to assist polio eradication activities, and ensure that the disease is stopped once and for all in Kano State. The association is set to step up to this challenge.

- By Nosa Owens-Ibie