Advocacy campaign seeks royal backing as poor infrastructure, weak primary healthcare and vaccine hesitancy threaten immunisation drive
By Bunmi Yekini
When community health volunteers began documenting primary healthcare centres where women delivered babies under torchlight and childhood vaccines risked spoiling because of poor storage, they concluded that fixing immunisation in Lagos would require more than medical supplies. It would require political influence, community trust and the authority of traditional rulers. That calculation recently brought health advocates to the palace of the Oba of Shasha in Alimosho, where they sought the monarch’s support in tackling vaccine hesitancy, improving primary healthcare and reaching thousands of children who remain unvaccinated.
Faced with persistent vaccine hesitancy, overstretched primary healthcare facilities and thousands of children who have never received a single routine immunisation, members of the Lagos State Accountability Mechanism (LASAM) are seeking the support of Oba Babatunde Ogunronbi, the traditional ruler of Shasha Kingdom, to help mobilise communities and press authorities to strengthen healthcare services.
The visit, organised by LASAM with support from GSK and Save the Children International, reflects a growing recognition that improving vaccination rates requires more than vaccines alone. It demands trusted community voices, functioning health facilities and sustained local political commitment.
“We started this work over 10 years ago… to ensure that all children in Lagos State do not die from preventable illnesses,” said Mrs Rasheedat Hassan, chairperson of LASAM’s Advocacy Subcommittee.
She said the group’s latest advocacy focuses on domestic resource mobilisation and ensuring sustained and equitable vaccine access for children who have never received routine immunisation, known as zero-dose children, and those who remain under-immunised.
The challenge extends beyond vaccine supply.
According to LASAM, 11 wards in Alimosho still lack primary healthcare centres, forcing health officials to rely on temporary outreach services while communities wait for permanent facilities. Volunteers who support immunisation campaigns receive about 3,000 naira despite travelling extensively, creating concerns about motivation and retention.
The group also raised concerns over inadequate vaccine storage and called for greater investment in maintaining cold-chain infrastructure to prevent doses from spoiling.
A proposed vaccination law
Beyond infrastructure, LASAM is advocating public consultations around a proposed vaccination law that would seek to improve childhood immunisation uptake.
Rather than imposing measures unilaterally, the group said traditional rulers and community leaders would be consulted on how such legislation should be designed and enforced.
“We are here to sensitise you… you will still be called upon, including other royal fathers, by this vaccination law that we want to implement,” Hassan told the monarch.
The organisation is also encouraging traditional leaders to mobilise philanthropists and businesses to support local healthcare facilities, arguing that government funding alone cannot meet growing demand.
Clinics operating by torchlight
Health advocates painted a troubling picture of conditions inside some primary healthcare centres.
They said community monitoring teams had documented facilities lacking electricity, running water, windows and fuel for generators, forcing health workers in some cases to assist women during childbirth using candles and torchlights.
“We visited some primary healthcare centres… they used torchlights and candles at night during delivery,” Rev. Bola Nuga, a LASAM representative, said during the meeting, urging the monarch to regularly question local authorities about conditions in health facilities.
The advocates said stronger oversight from community leaders could improve accountability among health workers and local government officials responsible for healthcare delivery.
Reaching communities that distrust vaccines
One of the campaign’s biggest obstacles remains vaccine hesitancy.
LASAM officials said outreach teams had encountered resistance in some settlements where misinformation and low awareness continue to discourage childhood immunisation.
The group identified some migrant settlements as areas requiring targeted engagement, arguing that trusted local and religious leaders would be more effective than government messaging alone in changing attitudes.
Royal support
Responding to the delegation, Oba Ogunronbi said traditional institutions remain among the closest authorities to local communities and pledged to support awareness campaigns.
He stressed that public education, particularly through radio and other media, would be critical because many residents do not regularly access newspapers or online information.
“The government cannot do it alone,” the monarch said, adding that kings could help convene community leaders and encourage residents to embrace immunisation programmes.
The monarch also promised to engage the chairman of Alimosho Local Government over gaps in healthcare infrastructure, recalling a personal experience in which a relative had to leave a poorly equipped health centre for private treatment during childbirth.
He backed calls for better-equipped primary healthcare centres, improved roads leading to health facilities and expanded services, including physiotherapy units for older residents.
For LASAM, securing royal endorsement could prove as important as securing additional funding.
In communities where traditional rulers command public trust, advocates believe they can help bridge the gap between health authorities and families whose children continue to miss routine vaccinations, while pressing governments to strengthen the primary healthcare system on which those immunisation efforts depend.