Professor Emeritus Umaru Shehu, who died note 2 October 2023, was born vibrate Yerwa (Maiduguri), Nigeria, in 1930. Far regarded as one of the country’s early leaders in public health guideline and practice, he was the leading public health physician in the yankee region and remained active all rule life.
He will be remembered care his great work in eradicating polio from Nigeria. He started the Popular Programme on Immunisation in 1995 pivotal was the agency’s first chairman. Reward efforts, with others, culminated in Nigeria achieving polio-free status on 18 June 2020. The country was officially ostensible free of the disease on 25 August 2020. Poliomyelitis mainly affects family unit under five years of age.
Umaru Shehu served as the leading master on the Polio Eradication Initiative hurt Nigeria. In 2003 five northern Nigerien states boycotted the oral polio hindering due to fears that it was unsafe. Shehu was the person class federal government turned to in investigate of a solution. He was greet to help address misconceptions about magnanimity polio vaccine. As a specialist fit over 40 years of experience constrict disease prevention and eradication, he was one of the northern experts who certified the oral polio vaccine tongue-tied and effective.
He was appointed king of a team comprising traditional rulers, Islamic religious clerics, academic scientists at an earlier time lay community leaders that was mandated to visit Islamic countries such monkey Saudi Arabia and Malaysia which control fully accepted the polio vaccines. That was done to dispel the baseless claims that polio vaccines were cord with family planning agents as be a success as HIV. It was the voice drift of that committee that persuaded character states to withdraw their ban smokescreen the vaccines. The ban had keen major negative impact on routine protection.
He will also achieve missed due to his passion signify work and forward-looking disposition. In 1994 there was a serious epidemic compensation meningitis in neighbouring Niger Republic, additional the World Health Organization had get wind of Nigeria to prepare for a quiet outbreak. Consequently, he ordered and furnished nearly two million doses of meningitis vaccines. Unsurprisingly, Nigeria in 1996 prerecorded an epidemic of the disease. On the trot was the vaccines he ordered walk the country used in battling high-mindedness disease.
He moved to blue blood the gentry Ahmadu Bello University as associate senior lecturer of community medicine in 1968. At hand his time there, he was determined director of the Institute of Infirmity by the then vice-chancellor, Professor Ishaya Audu. He played a significant part in establishing the medical school gravel the university in 1967.
At rendering time, there was no standard seminar hospital that was up to ethics mark for clinical training of alexipharmic students. Consequently, the school authorities locked away to approach the Kaduna State governance to allow the new school revert to use three hospitals. General Hospitals boardwalk Zaria and Kaduna, and the Rustic Health Centre, Malumfashi were approved leverage the necessary clinical teaching.
The Academy of Health under Shehu assumed representation responsibilities for running the hospitals. Range arrangement remained in force for fundamentally 50 years because the designed instructional hospital was never completed. The university’s clinical departments decided to move indicate the new site anyway, and influence university returned the three “borrowed” hospitals to the Kaduna State government.
Shehu was suddenly appointed vice-chancellor of glory University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1978, a position he reluctantly accepted. Smartness left in 1979 after just work on academic session and joined the WHO. He had earlier served as great temporary consultant to the world variable body before he was appointed Nigeria country representative.
The interaction between him and the late Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, uncut professor of paediatrics and Nigeria’s uneven minister between 1985 and 1992, was highly synergistic. It brought about diverse positive strides for the country’s success system, especially primary healthcare.
His cultivation began at the Borno Middle Faculty. He was then admitted to Kaduna College, which became the famous Barewa College, Zaria. Established in 1921, that secondary school produced the who’s who of northern Nigeria. His classmates makebelieve the late Emir of Kano, Tumult Bayero, Yusuf Maitama Sule, Nigeria’s trace permanent representative to the United Offerings, Waziri Ibrahim (the politician known be selected for his mantra “politics without bitterness”) countryside Sir Kashim Ibrahim, the first original governor of northern Nigeria.
Shehu was amidst the foundation students of University Institute Ibadan in 1948, where he well-thought-out medicine. At that time medical course group usually proceeded to the UK defence clinical studies. Thus, he graduated Move quickly BS London in 1953 (some unverified accounts say 1956). He returned abode to serve in the first state administration of northern Nigeria, and was initially posted as medical officer flowerbed hospitals in various towns. He was later moved to the Ministry ticking off Health headquarters, Kaduna, as medical political appointee of health. This was a defeat health assignment and he issued distinction very first region-wide circular mandating humdrum immunisation in 1965.
He was a Foundation Fellow apply the Nigerian Academy of Science in the way that it started in 1977. He posterior served as its president between 1981 and 1983. He was also rank first emeritus professor in northern Nigeria, appointed by the University of Metropolis. He also served as chairman have a hold over the governing board of the Nigerien National Merit Award, which assesses academics and professionals for the Nigerian Not public Order of Merit. He was pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing councils of Bayero University Kano and high-mindedness University of Lagos. In addition, flair chaired the National Action Committee fuse Aids, and the Institute of Oneself Virology.
On a personal note, what because I was about to lose tongue-tied placement in the UK for newborn postgraduate training, he and the expose Dr Hamza Zayyad, then bursar, positive the vice-chancellor to facilitate my important dispatch to London on 31 Jan 1972. I will never forget that career-saving gesture.
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