In 1985, three years before the world had a formal plan; Rotary moved first. PolioPlus launched as the first large- scale privately coordinated effort to combat polio globally, raising US$247 million in its opening three years. Nigeria was among the countries where that early investment mattered most: in 1988, polio was paralysing an estimated 350,000 children every year across 125 countries, and Nigeria bore one of the heaviest burdens on the African continent. It was Rotary’s early commitment and proven track record that helped bring WHO, UNICEF,and the US CDC to the table, culminating in the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. That spirit of moving first, of exceeding expectations before the world was watching, has defined the programme and Nigeria’s role within it ever since.
The decades that followed rewrote history. Wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 2015; type 3 in 2019. And then, in August 2020, came the moment Nigeria had worked towards for a generation: the entire WHO Africa Region 47 countries, Nigeria among them was certified free of wild poliovirus. It was a triumph built on the backs of Nigerian health workers, community mobilisers, field coordinators, Readmore