The Federal Government has inaugurated a presidential task force (PTF) on Ebola virus disease preparedness to keep Nigeria free and avoid the confusion of past outbreaks.
On June 9, President Bola Tinubu ordered the immediate release of N10 billion as emergency intervention funding to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness against Ebola and other emerging public health threats.
The president also approved the establishment of the PTF on Ebola virus disease preparedness and emerging public health threats.
Speaking during the inauguration of the task force held at the State House in Abuja, Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff (CoS) to the president, said the federal government is prioritising prevention over reaction.
“Nigeria must not be caught off guard. Right now, there’s no case reported, and that’s good news. All hands have to be on deck to make sure the measures we are taking are preventive and not curative,” Gbajabiamila said.
He noted the task force has formed subcommittees to manage surveillance, border control, immigration, and emergency response.
Gbajabiamila noted that the move was influenced by the lessons learned from the 2014 outbreak.
“We don’t want to be in the situation we were last time, where we had a carrier in the country, and we’re all running helter-skelter,” he said.
He said cooperation with states that host international airports is essential, noting that governors and representatives from Lagos, Rivers, Enugu, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) joined the meeting.
On informal migration routes, Gbajabiamila said the government is focusing on land borders.
“Normally, when people talk about emergency preparedness and cross-border diseases such as this, they think about airports,” he said.
“But now we’re covering not just the airports; we’re putting a lot of emphasis on land borders. We have a lot of cross-migration through the land borders, and the Border Control Development Agency (BCDA) is involved, immigration is involved, and a lot of the border communities are involved.”
Jide Idris, director general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), confirmed that there are currently no recorded cases of Ebola in Nigeria but warned against complacency.
“We don’t have any Ebola case here now, but we need to be prepared,” Idris said.
“However, just in case one slips in, we want to be prepared nationally to identify and deal with the case.”
The NCDC DG said surveillance and emergency response systems at major points of entry, such as airports, have been strengthened and adapted to the Ebola threat.
“The preparedness framework brings together multiple government institutions, health, interior, and education, as well as immigration, border control agencies, and state governments,” he said.
“The bottom line is that the objective is that we do not allow Ebola to come in. If it does come in, we are prepared to rapidly identify and manage the case nationally.”
The task force comprises members from the federal cabinet, federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), subnational governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the private sector.