At the time of writing this essay, Nigeria has lost 44 of
her citizens to the dreaded Lassa Fever which like the equally dreaded
Ebola Virus Disease is a haemorrhagic fever that spreads easily from one
person to another even at the slightest of contacts.
The two diseases
need a comprehensive action plan involving the people and relevant
agencies, local and international, as led and mobilised by government
who deploys all resources necessary, be it human, cash and material, to
tackle the menace headlong before it ravages the citizenry. That the
disease has claimed 44 lives already within a short period of time shows
how deadly it can be.
The Ebola virus which caused a worldwide stir in 2014 and
claimed about 11, 000 lives in West Africa alone when the epidemic
occurred that year, can be considered to be more fearsome because of the
number of casualties it claims per occurrence and its rapid spread to
even Europe and the US which also lost some seven citizens together in
the outbreak.
However, with all its threats and spread; with all its
fame for defying medicine, the then government of Presdient Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan rose up to the occasion and confronted that monster with
total commitment and vigour, mobilising government agencies, personnel
and other resources; sensitising schools, offices, churches/mosques etc
while equipping hospitals and other public places with anti-Ebola kits
and releasing the sum of N200 million each to Lagos and Rivers States
which had reported cases of the disease then despite the states being
led by APC, the then opposition party, the disease could not do much
damage to Nigeria contrary to genuine fears and worry expressed by the
international community then.
Although outbreak of the disease was reported in West
Africa, precisely Guinea, in March 2014, it did not give the world much
concern until it was brought into Nigeria by a Liberian diplomat,
Patrick Sawyer. The moment the Ebola disease found its way into Nigeria,
the alarm bell was rung all over the world because of Nigeria’s
population and her lack of expertise to handle such an outbreak.
However, with President Jonathan’s commitment, drive and patriotic
approach to the fight against the disease, Nigeria managed to still
eventually lose seven of her dear citizens while Europe lost three and
the US lost 4. However, Liberia has lost 4,809, Guinea lost 2,536 and
Sierra Leone lost 3,955.
Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) commended “…the
Nigerian Government’s strong leadership and effective coordination of
the response that included the rapid establishment of an Emergency
Operations Centre… strong
public awareness campaigns, teamed with early engagement of traditional,
religious and community leaders, also played a key role in successful
containment of this outbreak”, hence, Nigeria was declared Ebola-free on
October 20, 2014, exactly just three months after the first reported
case. Thereafter, Nigeria had the luxury of even sending health workers
to other sister African nations affected by the disease to assist them
combat it.
Furthermore, the WHO Country Director in Abuja, Dr. Rui
Gama Vaz, described Nigeria’s exemplary handling of the outbreak as a
“spectacular success story.” It was, indeed, a commendable achievement.
In spite of all these achievements and accolades poured on
Nigeria then for this rare feat, the All Progressives Congress (APC),
the then major opposition party, tried several times to politicise the
issue and distract the Jonathan administration from focusing on tackling
the disease headlong so they could use it as one of their campaign
issues against the then president, an issue which resulted in the PDP
and Jonathan chiding the APC on different occasions for politicising
what would have been a national disaster on all citizens irrespective of
party affiliation, ethnic background or religious leaning but for
government efforts.
Fast forward to 2016, and with the outbreak of the Lassa
Fever which was officially declared by the federal government in January
2016, despite the Minister of Health saying it has been with us for 6
weeks (as at 8th of January, 2016), yet, the Lassa fever has killed 44
Nigerians as at January 18, and distracted by the so-called corruption
cases deliberately churned up by the authorities as a decoy to parry the
attention of Nigerians from other urgent national matters, Nigerians do
not seem to be asking questions as to why the high fatalities within
such a short period of time. With the death toll of Lassa fever reaching
44 and the possibility of it climbing higher, one can only thank God
that Buhari and his party, APC, were not in power when Nigeria and
indeed West Africa suffered the Ebola outbreak. It would have been a
monumental disaster.
It is sickening, smacks of gross incompetence and a
display of high level of crass irresponsibility on the part of our
government of the day to be talking about setting up a National Action
Committee to tackle the outbreak nearly three weeks after its emergence
was officially declared. The Action Committee would be inaugurated at an
Emergency National Council on Health meeting. The question is, what is
“emergency” about calling a council meeting over a disease that has been
allowed to ravage citizens for so long? Why did it have to take the
intervention of the Senate via its committee on health for the Buhari
administration to be talking of a council meeting to tackle the fever?
Why did we have to wait for 44 of our citizens to die before action is
being taken? Under Jonathan, Ebola could only spread to three states of
Lagos, Enugu and Rivers before it was effectively contained. Why did we
have to now wait for this Lassa fever to spread to 10 states before
waking up from our slumber?
Surely, there is a lax attitude from this government
towards the wellbeing of its citizens. It is obvious this government
lacks any action plan for its citizens whether in health, employment,
economy, education, social welfare, infrastructure etc.
When compared to the progress made under the Jonathan
administration and the commendations the country received from all over
the world with regard to the dogged fight put up against Ebola disease,
one would have thought that Nigeria should only improve on that in
tackling any disease of similar trait. But with the Lassa fever saga, it
has become obvious, and another incontrovertible proof that the
“Change” promised Nigerians during the campaigns is nothing but a change
for the worse.
Lastly, in the interest of the nation and fellow citizens,
I will advise the Buhari administration and the APC to eat the humble
pie and approach the PDP for advice on how best to tackle this latest
disease before it ravages all of us, and as a responsible and patriotic
party, I will also strongly advise the PDP not to withhold any
information and or resources from APC when they are approached for
advice and expertise. This country belongs to all of us and we must see
to it that our citizens are defended stoutly against any disease, no
matter how deadly!
Jude Ndukwe is a political analyst who lives and works in Abuja, Nigeria. He tweets from@stjudendukwe.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
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