At the signing ceremony of the exchange of notes for the Polio Eradication Project in Abuja, the ambassador of Japan, Mr Ryuichi Shoji, said the government of Japan has been a faithful partner of Nigeria for over 14 years, providing assistance in the fight against polio since Japanese Fiscal Year 2000.
“The amount of this loan aid is eight trillion, two hundred and eighty-five million Japanese Yen (JPY 8,285,000,000) which is approximately equivalent to $85million.”
Meanwhile, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has offered to repay the loan within the next 18 months if the federal government meets its target on routine immunisation.
According to the ambassador, the preferential interest rate of 0.2 per cent would be applied while the funds would be utilised for procurement of polio vaccines for children under five years of age.
He added that the fund would be deployed to polio endemic states like Borno and Yobe where there are security challenges, saying, “There will be in particular, challenges posed by the fragile security situation and the hostility of the terrorist group in the northern part of Nigeria, which is the most important target area of this project. This project calls for the federal government’s enhanced security measures and people’s earnest efforts at all levels, in particular, at community level.”
In his remarks, the health minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, said that the Japanese loan is part of international support for the nation’s polio eradication programme to ensure timely delivery and availability of polio vaccines in the country.
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