God punishing Nigeria with meningitis: I was misquoted- Yari

Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, has denied he said that the present meningitis outbreak in Nigeria was God’s punishment on the country for indulging in fornication and other sins.

The governor who denied the statement on Wednesday said he was misinterpreted and quoted of context.
Yari made the denial in a statement he released through his special adviser on media and public enlightenment, Mr. Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, clarifying that what he only lamented was the paucity of appropriate vaccines to confront the outbreak of meningitis in his state.

Part of statement said, “No doubt, as a God-fearing man, and a Muslim, the governor believes in the powers of Allah to inflict whatever punishment He decides on the human race. However, the governor who spoke in Hausa had a particular audience in mind when he spoke to the BBC Hausa reporter.

“The governor added for example, that fornication ‘should not spread so much in society that it becomes common place and if that happens, Allah promises to inflict, on its perpetrators (people) a sickness that would have no cure.”
“Let it be known too that the governor still insists that all diseases come from Allah and that at no point in his interaction with the reporters did he insinuate that Allah was punishing Nigerians but instead drew from the teachings of great Islamic traditions to buttress the point he was trying to convey.
“This is exactly what the governor said, but because some people are out there to ridicule him at the slightest opportunity and make a mountain out of a molehill with a view to tarnishing his rising reputation, the innocuous statement was misinterpreted and quoted out of context for reasons best known to the authors.

Read also: MENINGITIS: Gov Yari has a wrong mindset –Sanusi

“We therefore use this medium to appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to ignore the story making the round and condemn the act of unethical practice by those disseminating the deceptive story.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Zamfara State government in conjunction with relevant Federal Government agencies is making frantic effort to contain the outbreak of meningitis in the state by taking immediate steps to secure appropriate vaccines for the latest health challenge.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government says the outbreak of `Type C’ form of Cerebro-spinal Meningitis (CSM) in some parts of the country has nothing to do with moral or spiritual lifestyles of Nigerians.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire stated this after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said, “The Federal Government does not have views of that nature‎ and I am not sure the state government can really continue to make that statement.

“When things happen; yes you can begin to look at many ways for possible causes. But like I said, nature played us an unfortunate stroke; that is not to say we committed sin or anything.”

 

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