The Federal Government has inaugurated a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness as part of efforts to prevent any outbreak in the country, stressing that Nigeria will not wait for infections to occur before taking action.
Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who inaugurated the task force in Abuja, said the country currently has no recorded Ebola case but must remain vigilant to avoid a repeat of the 2014 outbreak. He said the government’s strategy is focused on prevention rather than emergency response after infections have been detected.
Gbajabiamila explained that subcommittees had been established to coordinate surveillance, border management, immigration control and emergency response. He noted that governors from states with international airports, including Lagos, Rivers, Enugu and the FCT, were involved in the process, while greater attention was also being paid to Nigeria’s porous land borders.
He said lessons from the successful containment of Ebola in 2014 had informed the new preparedness measures, adding that authorities aim to maintain the country’s current zero-case status.
Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Jide Idris, confirmed that surveillance systems had already been strengthened at major entry points, especially airports, despite the absence of any Ebola case in Nigeria.
According to Idris, existing disease surveillance and emergency response structures are being upgraded to tackle Ebola-related threats, with ministries, border agencies, immigration authorities and state governments working under a coordinated national framework.
The task force was inaugurated amid heightened concern across Africa following renewed Ebola outbreaks in some parts of the continent, with health officials insisting that Nigeria must remain prepared to rapidly detect and contain any imported case.
