Now that we got the ‘all clear’ and we have been
able to reasonably restrain the spread of the
Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria, we can take a
more dispassionate look at the issue, its genesis
and some ramifications.
But first, a huge credit must go to the Lagos
State government. In particular, the Governor,
Babatunde Fashola, his Health Commissioner, Dr
Jide Idris, and his Special Adviser on Health, Dr
Yewande Adeshina deserve high praise indeed.
Similarly, President Goodluck Jonathan and the
Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu deserve
commendation for their co-ordinating role, robust
leadership and tireless work in containing the
Ebola spread.
Special praise must go to Dr Adadevoh and her
team at First Consultant Hospital. I dread to
imagine what would have happened in Lagos, and
indeed Nigeria in entirety, had the index case not
been taken to that hospital and placed under the
care of Dr Adadevoh. Her foresight and effective
management of that case probably saved our
collective bacon.
We cannot leave out the World Health
Organisation, WHO, and other foreign health
experts who were on the ground and in the
forefront providing us with support. However,
when you think that there are many more WHO
personnel and foreign health workers in Ebola-
stricken countries such as Guinea, Liberia and
Sierra Leone, and these countries have not
managed to contain Ebola and in fact, the disease
is on the increase in those places, you begin to
appreciate the more, the effectiveness of
Nigeria’s local strategy and response.
Nigeria tackled Ebola disease head-on and won.
It was text-book epidemiology triumph. In doing
this, we probably helped prevent greater spread
of the disease to other parts of the continent.
So kudos to all involved. They have all done very
well. And you know you’ve done good when even
America sends its personnel to study how you’ve
done it!
But how did Ebola get to Nigeria?
First, we can confirm authoritatively now that Mr
Patrick Sawyer did come to Nigeria knowing full
well he had contacted the Ebola disease. He
came here looking for a cure. His widow in New
York attested to that much. Mr Sawyer wasn’t
alone. Another diplomat sneaked through the
border and sought cure for the same disease in
Port Harcourt.
Furthermore, there were news reports of a few
Ebola-stricken West African nationals who tried to
cross into Nigeria through the Niger and through
some South-South borders. They were all turned
back. Also, three travellers suspected to be
Ebola-infected were apprehended after they
crossed into Ogun State through the Imeko-Afon
border.
Why did all these people come, and wanted to get
into Nigeria? They were practically invited to
come by the now former Minister for Information,
Labaran Maku.
On Wednesday April 2, 2014, Jonathan was away
in Brussels. In his place, Vice President Sambo
chaired the weekly Federal Executive Council
meeting in Abuja. Immediately after this meeting,
while briefing journalists on its outcome, Maku
reportedly declared to the world that Nigeria has
Ebola virus disease vaccines.
Specifically, Maku said: “Nigeria is prepared right
now to curtail any outbreak particularly given
reports that few counties on the West Coast like
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have reported
cases of Ebola fever and given our proximity to
these, Nigeria is ready. The ministry has taken
every precaution, including getting vaccines and
medicines to ensure that should there be any
incidence in Nigeria, everything would be dealt
with precision.”
The man wasn’t done. He added: “So far, there is
nothing like Ebola fever in Nigeria, and Council
was reassured that every step has been taken to
ready our country just in case infected persons
come into the country from our neighbouring
countries.”
This was the same briefing where the re-basing of
our economy was mentioned for the first time
and perhaps that over-shadowed the titbit about
us having Ebola vaccines. So while most
Nigerians heard ‘Rebasing,’ our Ebola-stricken
neighbours heard ‘Vaccines.’
I suppose Mr Maku could be reasonably excused
on the basis that he was perhaps just passing on
information he received from the Health Ministry.
However, he could have checked and confirmed
his facts before making categorical statements.
Giving Nigeria’s pre-eminence in the continent,
why would other Africans not take Maku’s
statement seriously?
Even as late as July 25th, few days after Sawyer
escaped into Nigeria, the Project Director of the
Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, one
Professor Abdulsalam Nasidi, chipped-in: “…We
have mobilised rapid response teams in addition
to developing a detailed response plan that
includes a comprehensive health education, health
promotion to sensitise Nigerians, enhanced
surveillance to detect and treat the disease.”
What’s a desperate African citizen to do on the
back of such reassuring statements? Same thing
is happening to America now. A few people with
Ebola have flown into that country since the USA
was able to successfully cure a couple of people
with the Ebola virus.
It is painful that some people have had to lose
their lives as a result of Sawyer’s and other’s
actions, but we must put things in their proper
perspective. People in offices of high
responsibility must be more discerning and more
sensitive when it comes to matters of life and
death. There are times to grandstand and there
are other times to be serious.
So when Jonathan described Patrick Sawyer as
“crazy” and a “mad man,” perhaps, he ought to
have been looking elsewhere.
But, thank heavens we pulled through and we
have excelled – albeit at a price. We only need
now to worry about people coming home for
Christmas from Ebola-infested countries.
However, what our experience with the successful
containment of the Ebola disease has shown is
that Nigeria has the material and human
resources to be a truly great nation if only we
have the will, the commitment, and the right
leadership. We can even straighten out our
healthcare sector such that the president won’t
have to jet into Germany so much for his
healthcare needs.
*Mr Michael Egbejumi-David, a commentator on
national issues, wrote from Lagos
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