As UN envoy says team effort behind Nigeria’s success
President Good­luck  Jonathan has condemned in strong terms, the stigmati­zation of Nigerians by some countries over recent cases of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country.
President Jonaathan said there was no justification for such stigmatization of Nige­rians since the disease had been effectively contained in the country and never attained epidemic level, he called for the cessation of discriminatory actions against Nigerians over the virus and urged the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon to support the call.
In an audience  with  a Spe­cial Envoy of the United Na­tions Secretary-General, Mr. David Navarro,  Jonathan par­ticularly denounced
discriminatory actions such as that which forced Nigeria’s team to the Youth Olympics in China to abandon its participa­tion.
Responding to the Secre­tary General’s commendation of Nigeria’s management
of the threat of Ebola, the President  praised the Fed­eral Ministry of Health, the Lagos State Government and all Nigerians for the suc­cess achieved so far in con­taining the virus and avoiding a national epidemic.
“All hands have been on deck to contain the virus here. I commend my team and the Lagos State Government. We have been able to set politics aside and work in unison to deal with a national threat.
“All other Nigerians have played a part too by comply­ing with the directives and ad­vice we have issued to stop the virus from spreading any
further. The success we have had is a testimony to what we can achieve as people if we set aside our differences and work together,” he said.
The President assured the special envoy that in spite of the seeming success of its con­tainment measures, the Fed­eral Government and its agen­cies would remain vigilant to guard against further cases of Ebola in the country.
“We will continue to moni­tor the situation and we will also support other affected African countries as much as we can because we cannot be completely safe from the virus as long as it continues to ravage some countries in our sub-region and continent. We will continue to work with the international com­munity to curb the outbreak in other countries,” Jonathan pledged.
In his remarks, Navarro who had visited Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the countries worst hit by Ebola before coming to Ni­geria, told the President that he had come, on the instruc­tion of the UN Secretary-General, to applaud Nige­ria’s successful containment of the virus.
“The Secretary-General asked me to come here too, not because you have an Eb­ola problem, but because you have tackled it in an exem­plary fashion.
“Your personal leader­ship on the matter has been key. There may still be some work to be done before the virus is completely cleared out from here, but other countries can learn from your fine example,” he said

Ebola: Jonathan condemns stigmatisation of Nigerians