Nigeria in risk of ebola

A few days ago, a taxi driver in
Glasgow, Scotland, struck up
a conversation with me. When he
tried and failed to guess where I
was from (“Papua New Guinea” –
of all places!) I helped him out.
Nigeria, I said. Nigeria?, he
queried. Isn’t that where Ebola is
from?
I got the point. Nigeria was again
confirming that it is one of Africa’s
most prominent nations, but often
for all the wrong reasons.
A decade ago it was ‘Yahoo-Yahoo’
letters (which have now been
stamped into global consciousness
as the “Nigerian Letter.” Yesterday
it was Boko Haram, and now it has
been joined by ‘Ebola’ – a word
whose fluidity of articulation
belies the utter-ness of its
deadliness.
It will take a long time to shake off
the perception of Nigeria as
a bastion of failed promise and
underachievement. It will certainly
take a lot more than multimillion
dollar PR contracts, necessary as
they might be.
But that should not be an excuse
for not starting the
journey somewhere. Perhaps for a
moment we should even be
considering forgetting about the
rest of the world and focusing
instead on inspiring Nigerian
confidence in Nigeria.
That’s no doubt a task for our
leadership, at all levels, but
most importantly, right there at
the top – from President Jonathan.
The current Ebola crisis offers an
opportunity for Nigeria’s
warring partisans to unite.
It’s starting to get tiring, this
constant and
increasingly meaningless – and
ultimately unhelpful – antagonism
between the ruling and opposition
parties. If exchanging longwinded
rejoinders daily could save a
country, Nigeria would not be
where it is today; trapped at the
mercy of Boko Haram and Ebola.
Ebola is a serious threat; in terms
of both its direct impact on
human survival, and its
reputational impact for the
affected countries – cancelled
flights, shut borders, nervous
investors, etc.
If we deal with Ebola the way we
have handled Boko Haram thus
far, we are going to pay a
devastating price.
While I do not want to be accused
of trying to compare Ebola to
Boko Haram (there’s no point in
trying to compare), I think that
there are important lessons to be
learnt from the failings that
manifested in the response to the
abduction of the Chibok girls.
First there was the fact that it took
Mr. President more than
two weeks to address his citizens.
Second was the atmosphere of
deep and mutual distrust between
the Borno State Government and
the Federal Government; a distrust
that helped complicate the
abduction scenario and diminish
the chances of a speedy rescue.
Now President Jonathan has to act
like someone who regrets
the handling of the Chibok
abduction. And the Ebola scenario
offers an opportunity to
demonstrate that lessons have
been learnt.
If I were one of his handlers I
would insist on him addressing
the nation as soon as possible on
the Ebola threat. A direct,
heartfelt speech, outlining
concrete steps being put in place
to check the threat and protect the
country.
For powerful symbolic effect I
would have Mr. President make
that address from Lagos – which
appears to be the state most at
risk at the moment – and alongside
Governor Babatunde Fashola. It
would send a strong and inspiring
message that bitter partisanship –
the kind that has dogged all
attempts to deal with Boko Haram
–is no longer welcome in the
corridors of government.
In that speech I would ask the
president to announce a
special presidential grant to Lagos
State to support the efforts to
check the onslaught of the Ebola
virus. The grant money could go
towards equipping the facility that
the Lagos Government has now
reportedly designated as an Ebola
management facility.
The ideal speech would not be one
of those usual cliché-filled ones.
We don’t want to hear an
argument about how Ebola is not
limited to Nigeria alone. We don’t
want vague assurances that the
government is “on top of the
situation.” We want more than a
plea to the “international
community” to assist us “fight this
dastardly scourge.” We want
honesty, sincerity – and
concreteness.
And perhaps the President could
also try to convince all
those faceless groups that have
been inundating us with campaign
adverts on his behalf to spend
some of that money and energy on
Ebola enlightenment. Some of
those Jonathan-Sambo billboards
that now dot the landscape across
the country could be of great
service to the fight against Ebola.
Coordination of government
action at all levels is critical.
Direct presidential leadership is
sorely needed (this is a point I
tried to make last week) – it is one
thing that has been conspicuously
and tragically missing in the four
years of this government.
I know we like to make fun of the
President’s penchant for
multiplying often meaningless
presidential committees, but in the
case of Ebola I think that that is
just what we need, at the very
least – a Committee that assembles
all the most important
stakeholders – health bureaucrats,
NEMA, NSA, state governments,
the international community, etc –
under a presidential mandate to
stop the Ebola virus.
And this spirit of collaboration
would need to be extended to
the regional level. With Boko
Haram we’ve been treated to
stories of how Cameroon failed to
offer significant levels of support
to Nigeria, allowing the insurgents
to gain a foothold in the mountain
ranges of Cameroon. It has been
suggested that Boko Haram would
not be this resurgent had
Cameroon played a more active
role last year when the drafting of
Nigerian troops (associated with
the state of emergency) led to the
sect taking refuge in the mountains
of Cameroon.
Therein lies a lesson. At ECOWAS
level an Ebola containment
strategy is required. We should
not be waiting for France to
summon African leaders to an
‘Ebola Summit.’ Nigeria should be
the one summoning the rest of
West Africa to Abuja. Nigeria
needs to assert itself as regional
superpower, and take the lead in
the efforts to ensure that all
concerned governments unite
against this threat.
It is a tragedy that doctors in
public hospitals are on strike at
a time like this. The Nigerian
Medical Association should
seriously consider calling a
ceasefire in its face-off with the
Federal Government. This should
of course be accompanied by
direct presidential intervention in
the industrial action.
As citizens we have important
roles to play. This is not the time
to start peddling miracle cures
(‘Ebola Anointing’, etc) or
advancing arguments that might
work to dissuade people from
seeking proper medical attention.
If we must insist on displaying
religious faith then let it be done
in tandem with best medical
practices.
Any faith or traditional healer who
believes they’ve got the cure
for Ebola would make the gods/
God happy by being sensible.
Perhaps the government should
consider setting up a body to
admit and manage all claims of
cures/healings, and make it
mandatory for all self-
professed healers and miracle
workers to formally notify it
before they go to town with their
claims.
The most populous cities in Liberia
and Sierra Leone –
capitals Monrovia and Freetown
respectively – have got about
1million persons; Guinea has about
2 million in Conakry. Those three
cities in total have only about
a quarter of the population of
Lagos. If Ebola has wreaked that
much havoc – as reported – in
those countries, just imagine what
it would do in Nigeria, if we allow
our usual tardiness to dictate
our response.