When the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, transported Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) into the country on July 20, the Federal Government and the governments of Lagos and Rivers states, health workers and indeed all Nigerians put aside their political differences and gave the monster a crushing defeat never seen in any Ebola-infested country in West Africa. The Nigerian experience in containing the scourge is a marvel that keeps the world and medical scientists wondering how Nigeria rose to the challenge of Ebola and subdued it despite some lapses in our healthcare delivery system. It is a model worthy of replication in any Ebola-infested country. That Nigeria is Ebola-free today is as a result of collaborative effort led by the federal government and support from the two states governments affected by the disease and development partners. For this feat, development agencies and friendly countries lauded the Nigerian government for its swiftness in containing the deadly viral disease that has no cure yet.Therefore, the fight against the EVD in the country is indeed a pan-Nigerian effort whose import should not in any way be diminished by undue politicization of the Nigerian triumph against a lethal disease that kills at will irrespective of the victim’s religious, tribal and political affiliations. In giving kudos to institutions and persons that helped in putting the Ebola spread in check, I think that the management and staff of First Consultants, the hospital that handled Sawyer’s case deserved lots of commendation for discovering that the late Sawyer had the disease despite his spirited effort to run away from the health facility located in Obalende, Lagos. The late medical doctor, Dr Ameyo Adadevoh and all other medical and non-medical staff that attended Sawyer including the late nurse, Justina Ejelonu, and other victims deserve commendations for their patriotism in the course of duty.
The Lagos State Government under Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola should be praised for his quick intervention in alerting the Federal Ministry of Health that swung into action and announced that we have an emergency in our hand. President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration deserves enormous commendations for the N1.9 billion he promptly mobilized to fight the disease, and doled out N200 million each to Lagos and Rivers states’ governments to tackle the disease. Similarly, Governor Rotimi Amaechi should be praised too for his quick response to the disease when Ebola spread to Port Harcourt. The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu should be highly commended for his patriotic role in keeping the nation informed of every step the government took to contain the scourge. The public enlightenment by the federal government and the two state governments affected were all instrumental in containing the disease. Therefore, in lauding the heroes and heroines of the war against Ebola, no institution or persons, who contributed immensely in the war should be minimized, dismissed or excluded.
But curiously, a recent congratulatory message to governors Babatunde Fashola and Rotimi Amaechi for “successfully battling Ebola in Lagos and Rivers states respectively” by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, in The Nation of September 29, 2014 page 10, dismissed the contribution of the Jonathan led-federal government in the war against Ebola.
First is the fact that the war against Ebola was not waged by the Lagos and Rivers states governments alone. These APC governors did not fight the war in isolation of the federal government, its agencies and health facilities as well as some local and foreign medical volunteers. For instance, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, where the blood samples of suspected victims were taken to for confirmation is a federal health institution. That the federal government gave N200 million each to both Lagos and Rivers states’ governments to fight the disease is a measure that deserved praise by the APC.
Instead of doing that, the APC politicized the Ebola war and offered gratuitous praise to the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, for his effort in the war against Ebola and lampooned the federal government under which he performed the feat thus: “Working together with the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, whose decisiveness and regular briefings were out of character with the docile and purposeless government he is serving, the Governors earned the respect of local and international authorities.” While not holding brief for the PDP, I think that the APC should have done better in this congratulatory message by giving kudos to President Jonathan and his party, at least for once, for his effort in the war against Ebola.
The Health Minister also deserves a better applause than what APC has given him. Moreover, there is nothing in federal government’s effort to contain Ebola that marks it out as “docile and purposeless government” as touted by APC. In fact, there is nothing in Jonathan’s administration that marks it out as APC described. I know that APC is in the opposition but the business of the opposition should include acknowledging their opponent where he has done well. The opposition should not deny praise to whom it is due as its message has done.
Although the efforts of Fashola and Amaechi to contain the EVD in their states are commendable and worthy of praise but making the two governors and their programmes shine above all other actors including the federal government in a pan-Nigerian war against Ebola is, to me, very partisan and uncalled for.
It distracts from all other efforts in the war against the disease including the roles played by the dead victims, especially the health workers that died in their attempt to save the nation of Ebola.
It becomes more worrisome where the effort of President Goodluck Jonathan to contain Ebola was denied. It is true that the Ebola epidemic occurred in two APC states but the efforts to contain it are not limited to the two governors deliberately singled out for high praise by APC while the federal government that rose to the challenge was impugned and denigrated.
This is politics taking too far. While I do not have any grudge on politicians plying their trade, they should stop the politicization of everything including the unfortunate Ebola disease that the federal government led in waging a relentless battle.

Ebola containment: Jonathan deserves commendation