Babalola, whose election was confirmed last Thursday, will take office on 1 July 2026 as Rotary International President for the 2026/2027 year, becoming only the second Nigerian and the second African to lead the global humanitarian body.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Babalola reminded Nigerians that the country’s polio-free certification does not mean the virus is gone for good. He explained that the gap in vaccination coverage leaves room for resurgence.
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“There are some issues that have emerged in many of the countries where polio has been eradicated. You need to continue to vaccinate the children because until there are no more cases of polio, no child is safe,” he said.
According to him, herd immunity requires coverage of about 80 per cent, yet many states fall well below this benchmark. He pointed out that in parts of the Northwest, routine immunisation is as low as 13 per cent.
Babalola also linked weak vaccination uptake to higher risks of other disease outbreaks, noting that vulnerable regions have experienced more cases of COVID-19 variants.
Beyond immunisation, he spoke about Rotary’s ongoing investments in health. Clubs across Nigeria, he said, are complementing public health services by assisting expectant mothers with antenatal registration and providing nutrition support in communities.
At a wider scale, Rotary is running a $2 million pilot project in Gombe, Nasarawa and the FCT aimed at cutting maternal and child deaths, a programme that is already showing encouraging results. A separate $9.8 million scheme is targeting malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia, three leading killers of children under five.
Reflecting on Rotary’s decades-long battle against polio, Babalola recalled that the disease once paralysed or killed about 1,000 children each day across more than 120 countries. Meanwhile, he noted that the virus is endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with fewer than 50 cases reported globally last year.
He reaffirmed Rotary’s commitment to complete eradication, declaring, “Our promise to the children of the world is that polio shall not kill nor maim any child. That’s our promise to the children of the world. Until we deliver on that promise, we shall not have any other corporate initiative.”
