Nigerian singer, Tiwa Savage, has joined Rotary’s This Close public awareness campaign for polio eradication.
Tiwa, who has been described by CNN as Nigeria’s biggest pop star, will help Rotary achieve its goal of a polio-free world by raising awareness about the vaccine-preventable disease.
The 37-year-ol administered a vaccine to children in Lagos in late April. Nigeria regularly conducts mass immunisation campaigns to vaccinate every child under the age of five in the country.
Her participation in the Rotary programme comes at a critical juncture as Nigeria experienced a polio outbreak that paralyzed four children last year after passing nearly two years without a case of the disease.
Tiwa’s involvement in the campaign will raise important awareness that will help ensure the outbreak is stopped.
“This is a cause that hits close to home for me, not only as a mother of a small child, but as a proud Nigerian, whose country has been battling this disease for many years,” said the mother of one.
She announced her new partnership with Rotary last week in New York City at a World Immunization Week event.
As part of the This Close campaign, Tiwa will be featured in ads raising her thumb and forefinger in the “this close” gesture with the tagline “we’re this close to ending polio”.
The Mavin Records star thus joins other public figures and celebrities participating in Rotary’s public awareness campaign, including Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; actress Kristen Bell; Supermodel Isabeli Fontana; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu; action movie star Jackie Chan; boxing great Manny Pacquiao; pop star Psy; golf legend Jack Nicklaus; conservationist Jane Goodall; premier violinist Itzhak Perlman; Grammy Award winners A.R. Rahman; Angelique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley; and peace advocate Queen Noor of Jordan.
