EBOLA: FG ASSURES NIGERIANS OF CAPACITY TO CONTAIN OUTBREAK
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By ‘Balogun Ibrahim
The Federal Government on Wednesday attributed Nigeria’s swift detection of its first Ebola case to the preparedness measures put in place by the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness, assuring the public that the country has the capacity to contain the disease.
The chairman of the task force and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, gave the assurance after an emergency meeting of the group at the State House in Abuja.
This was disclosed in a statement titled ‘Ebola: FG Assures Nigerians of Containment Strategies’, signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Gbajabiamila said the task force had been working behind the scenes since its inauguration in June, adding that its preparedness efforts and established protocols contributed to the prompt identification of the case reported on Tuesday.
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He noted that Nigeria had recorded approximately 44,000 flights into and out of the country since concerns over Ebola emerged in June, stressing that the collaboration among the Ministry of Health, the task force and other relevant agencies had strengthened the country’s response.
According to him, the woman who tested positive for Ebola did not exhibit symptoms when she arrived in Nigeria. The symptoms reportedly developed four days after her arrival in Abuja.
Gbajabiamila said the incident demonstrated the effectiveness of the surveillance and identification procedures established by the government.
He added that the task force would review and reinforce existing measures, including screening and response protocols, to ensure stricter compliance.
The former lawmaker emphasised that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and other relevant agencies were actively responding to the situation.
He also called for public cooperation, urging Nigerians to trust the authorities, avoid panic and recognise that containing the disease required joint efforts by the government and citizens.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, said Nigeria had competent health institutions and agencies capable of managing the situation.
He listed private hospitals, immigration and aviation authorities, interior agencies and state governments among the stakeholders with surveillance and response mechanisms in place.
Pate disclosed that contact tracing was ongoing and that individuals identified as contacts of the imported index case were being isolated and monitored.
He said most states had established response plans and that the government was mobilising available resources and personnel to prevent further transmission.
The minister expressed confidence that sustained implementation of the response measures would help contain the outbreak.
He further revealed that the World Health Organisation, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had activated their incident management systems across relevant response areas. Hospitals had also activated their preparedness and response capabilities.
Pate urged Nigerians to refrain from circulating unverified information that could trigger unnecessary public anxiety. He recalled that Nigeria’s public health experts had successfully contained the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
The emergency meeting was attended by the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap; the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Bunmi Kuku; the WHO representative, Pavel Ursu; and the Africa CDC’s Special Regional Representative, Dr Aliko Ahmed.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olajumoke Oduwole; Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi; and Captain Donald Spiff of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority participated virtually.
On Tuesday, Pate announced that laboratory tests had confirmed Ebola in a woman who recently returned to Nigeria from Uganda.
According to Voice of Nigeria, the woman developed symptoms on October 7 and sought treatment at a private hospital in Abuja on October 11. Laboratory confirmation was obtained on October 20.
The Federal Government said it was monitoring 44 contacts linked to the confirmed case.
President Bola Tinubu established the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness on June 9, with Gbajabiamila as its chairman, and approved ₦10 billion for emergency preparedness.
The measures introduced by the task force include enhanced airport screening, QR-code-based health declarations for passengers arriving from high-risk countries, and the establishment of isolation centres at the Lagos and Abuja airports.
At the task force’s inauguration on June 18, Gbajabiamila said Nigeria had no confirmed Ebola cases at the time and stressed the need to prevent a recurrence of the 2014 outbreak, when an infected traveller brought the virus into the country.
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