FROM COLONIAL PAST TO PRESENT: THE NEXUS OF SMALLPOX AND POLIO VACCINATION REJECTION IN NORTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper presents some historical precedents that provide a critical framework for interpreting the rejection of polio vaccination in North-western Nigeria. In this paper, qualitative content analysis of written and oral data is used to explore the genealogy of the suspicion that cloud both smallpox and polio vaccinations in the area. The main objective of the paper is to provide a critical analysis of the politics of smallpox vaccination that reveals mistrust that persists to the present. The paper observed that the people’s perception of colonial medicine and mistrust of colonial officers geared their apathy to smallpox vaccination in the zone. Traditional institutions and legislation were used to ensure the acceptance of the vaccination and this increased the suspicion when people perceived the strategy as a control mechanism than a genuine attempt to improve their public health. These memories of smallpox vaccinations have a direct impact on the contemporary polio eradication campaign. People perceived polio vaccination as a continuation of the surreptitious Western agenda. The findings of the study present that perceived mistrust of the West stands to be the significant challenge for polio eradication campaigns as it did during smallpox vaccination in the colonial era.