By Danjuma Amodu
The Federal Government has inaugurated a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness with a mandate to maintain Nigeria’s current zero-case status and position the country as a continental leader in epidemic response.
Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who chairs the task force, disclosed this Thursday at the inauguration held at the State House, Abuja. This was disclosed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, in a statement released after the event.
Gbajabiamila said Nigeria has recorded no confirmed Ebola cases to date, but warned that prevention must take priority over cure. He noted that structures and sub-committees have been established to strengthen surveillance, border control, and rapid response.
“We do not want a repeat of what happened during the last outbreak when a carrier entered the country, and everyone was scrambling to respond. Today, we have covered a lot of ground and established structures to address any potential threat.”
— Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President
Nigeria last faced Ebola during the 2014 West Africa outbreak, when a Liberian-American traveler, Patrick Sawyer, brought the virus into Lagos. That incident triggered 20 confirmed cases and 8 deaths before Nigeria was declared Ebola-free 42 days later. The response earned global praise and became a model for contact tracing.
Building on those lessons, the new task force will coordinate efforts between federal agencies, states with international airports, and land border communities. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, will provide technical leadership, while sub-committees will focus on border management, immigration control, and disease surveillance.
Gbajabiamila said the government is working closely with Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Enugu states and the Federal Capital Territory, all of which host international airports. He added that immigration services, the Border Management Agency, and border communities will play active roles due to high cross-border movement.
“We want to put in place permanent arrangements and structures so that in two or three years, if another outbreak occurs, we will not be running from pillar to post trying to establish response mechanisms.”
— Femi Gbajabiamila
Ministers present at the inauguration included the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. Also in attendance were NCDC Director General Dr. Jide Idris, FAAN Managing Director Olubunmi Kuku, WHO Country Representative Dr. Pavel Ursu, state health commissioners, and public health experts including Dr. Ismail Abdulsalam and Niniola Williams of DRASA Health Trust.
The government said the task force will ensure Nigeria not only sustains its zero-case record but “leads” rather than “follows” on continental epidemic preparedness.
