Shocking revelation has emerged that the Office of the National Security Adviser had earlier warned the Minister of Health on the need to be careful of the Ebola virus 10 days before the visit of the Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, to Lagos.
The NSA office in a letter dated July 10, 2014 alerted the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu on the need to watch against the dreaded Ebola virus, which according to the NSA, was at the ‘doorstep of the country.’
It was stated in the letter with ref. no. NSA/A/208/C, and signed by a Senior officer in the NSA’s office, Brig. Gen. TT Waya (retd.), that the guideline was meant to provide a working plan to guide the Health Ministry to take proactive steps to combat any possible outbreak of the disease in Nigeria.
It was also learnt that the Ministry, the NSA’s office and the Presidential Communication, Command and Control at the State House were to hold joint briefings on the Ebola issue.
Punch’s investigations revealed that the Plan of Action was yet to be followed 10 days before the sick Sawyer imported the sickness into the country.
The guidelines, presented in summary under the topic ‘Crisis Management Guidelines for Pandemics- Ebola’, attached as Annex ‘A’ to the letter, included three major areas: General Information, Communication and Looking Ahead.
Items listed under General Information include Introduction, History of Ebola, The West African Pandemic, Contingency Planning, Risk Analysis, Being Better Prepared, The Response Plans, Reinforcing the Crisis Response, Management of Information and Creation of Joint Communication Centre.
It was observed that the letter also warned the Minister of the outbreak of the deadly virus and its high fatality figure in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. It said 367 persons out of a total of 600 infected died as at June 26, 2014, according to World Health Organisation reports.
The NSA letter read in part, “Last week, there was an isolated case reported in Ghana. With this development, Ebola disease could be said to be on Nigeria’s doorstep.
“An outbreak of the disease in Nigeria would obviously have security implications. Consequently, I am directed to forward to you the crisis Management Guidelines for your Ministry’s preparedness and response to an eventual outbreak of the disease.
“The guidelines will assist the Hon. Minister in preparing a working plan to deal with the outbreak as well as to warn and inform the public among others.”
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