Ibn Garbai gave the warning in his palace in Maiduguri on Tuesday while addressing district heads from the 27 local government areas of the state.
He noted that the district heads had crucial roles to play in ensuring the eradication of polio in the state.
``As traditional leaders at the grassroots you have great roles in ensuring the success of government’s efforts to eradicate the wild polio virus in Nigeria,'' Ibn Garbai said.
He said that traditional rulers from all Northern states met recently in Sokoto and agreed to spear- head government’s action on polio eradication.
``About 25 traditional rulers met in Sokoto under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar.
``We signed a memorandum of understanding on polio eradication at the end of the meeting,'' he said.
He advised the district heads to constitute enlightenment and mobilisation committees in their areas to ensure that parents were sensitised on the need to present their children and wards for vaccination.
Ibn Garbai noted that the issue of safety of the polio vaccine had since been addressed by Islamic scholars, adding: ``The idea of linking polio vaccine to family planning has long been found to be untrue by Islamic scholars.''
The Shehu expressed optimism that polio would be eradicated in the country.
``What we need is total dedication to give a final push to get polio out of Nigeria just like other countries had successfully done. I want to appeal to all of you to take seriously government’s efforts in fighting the polio virus.''
The traditional ruler appealed to the Federal Government to accord more priority to the state on polio eradication because of its peculiarities.
``Borno state is unique because its shares common borders with three of Nigeria's neighbours, Cameroun, Chad and Niger Republic.
``Government should accord more priority to the state in polio eradication,'' he said.
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