September 4, 2014, Lagos - By now, the initial scramble to purchase hand
sanitisers and similar health products has settled. So has the
reluctance to shake hands receded since it became apparent that the
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD or Ebola) is mostly infectious in clinical
settings or to care givers for already ill patients. Our experience in
Nigeria has merged with the largest Ebola outbreak in history that has
been making headlines for months in West Africa. Health officials and
government leaders from West Africa and well beyond have all tried to
grapple with a disease still boasting a mortality rate near 90 percent.
Many have labeled Patrick Sawyer, a public health terrorist, for his
role and status as the index case within Nigerian territory. For us,
the narrative must focus on the capacity of our public health and
governance systems to prevent and attend to any threats to the public
health. Essentially, can your government defend and protect you against
disease and/or insecurity?
Sawyer came into Nigerian territory, a visibly sick man from Liberia.
Obviously, we had no government measures in place to address the entry
of an Ebola sick person in our territory and minimize contact. For a
disease that has ravaged three West African countries since March of
this year, there was an imminent risk that a traveller with the Ebola
symptoms may turn up within our borders. Without question, the Federal
Government failed in its immigration and civil aviation
responsibilities...
Ghana, within close proximity to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, seems
to have managed its prevention measures better. We now know that Ebola
has travelled outside of Lagos, as Rivers State has reported its first
Ebola death.
To contain EVD, the Lagos State Government, among other containment
measures, set up isolation centers and also implemented a quarantine
programme. The Federal Government followed suit, announcing a state of
emergency and a special intervention fund of N1.9 billion. This fund is
meant to be utilized to intensify measures to contain the disease by the
establishment of more isolation centers, case management, contact
tracing and recruiting additional personnel among other things. Many
Nigerians share a sense of déjà vu about the Federal Government’s
policies.
First, the declaration of an emergency is not an end in itself. This is
proven by the Federal Government’s declaration of a state of emergency
in Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa States, that has only aggravated the state of
insecurity in those states. One thing is clear- more critical thinking
and sincere action are required to make such declaration worthwhile.
For the sake of us all, we hope the ingredients of critical thinking and
sincere action would be available for the Ebola emergency. In related
terms, Nigeria’s public health has been in an emergency ward for years.
Ebola is just a symptom of what has become an epidemic. Ebola, as
ravenous as it appears, has accounted for no more than a score of
infections. Meanwhile, since 2009, we have lost a total of 3,954,084
children between 0-5 to infant mortality. In 2010 alone, 810,000
children in this age grade died prematurely from preventable health
reasons. Women that die on account of childbirth related causes, amount
to 55,000 annually, or 150 every day. Malaria still kills 300,000
Nigerians annually. To put this in context, preventable diseases have
taken more Nigerian lives since 2009, than the Syrian, Liberian and
Nigerian civil wars joined together. How can a Nation thrive when less
than 3% of its population have health insurance? Let’s be clear here,
these are not just emergent issues that could be wished away. These are
governance issues that must be addressed by a thinking government that
sincerely acts for the people’s benefits.
Secondly, we, as many other Nigerians, have a genuine fear that the
Ebola Intervention Fund would not be judiciously and transparently
utilised by the Federal Government.. And there is probable cause for
this fear. Judging by this administration’s demonstrated propensity for
hurtling critical funds for urgent public purposes elsewhere, only a
vigilant citizenry can ensure that the Ebola Fund does not follow the
wasteful path of other public funds. The Minister of Health has all but
confirmed this apprehension as he has recently been quoted as saying
that the release of the N1.9 billion is not for the management of Ebola,
but instead, for the procurement of new vehicles to aid in working and
purchasing more drugs. This statement is in contrast to the alleged use
of the funds as stated in a press release authorized by the Special
Adviser to the President.
Add this to the long and growing list of other missing funds and
wasteful spending, and you discern a pattern. $US 20 billion in oil
proceeds disappeared between December 2012 and June 2013. A total of
approximately $US14 billion appropriated for security in three years,
cannot secure the homeland. This government has presided over a scarcity
of helmets, guns and a winning strategy against Boko Haram, but
instead, engages in a vociferous media propaganda war against the
opposition to deflect from its failure. The government's failure has
seen wide scale desertion in the army, a rising of mutiny within the
ranks in the army, a direct emboldenment of the Boko Haram
devil-incarnates, while ostracising the local population.
