By Zik Gbemre

With the increasing number of reported cases and deaths of coronavirus doubling every couple of days, and more patients have now been reported from many Asian countries, as well as the Middle East, Europe, Australia and the US, with reported concerted efforts being made by these Governments to ensure the health safety of their citizenry, we could not help but wonder what exactly are the actions, preventive measures and preparations being put in place in Nigeria by the Government and its relevant agencies, in the event of cases being detected in the country? what measures are being put in place to contain the virus? And most importantly, what steps have the Government taken concerning addressing the fate of Nigerians in China?

We are aware that Russia and other developed nations have taken decisions and steps to evacuate and quarantine their citizens from China, with measures put in place to contain any possible spread of the dangerous virus within their countries. But we are yet to hear of any pans by the Nigerian Government in this regard, in the interest of its citizens in China. All we have seen so far, was the House of Representatives members’ recent rejection of the call for the evacuation of Nigerians from China, as the coronavirus spreads from the country to other parts of the world. The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Banjamin Kalu, had moved a motion praying that Nigerians stranded in China over the health crises be brought back to their home country. The lawmakers, however, voted against consideration of the motion. Several efforts made by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, to make the lawmakers listen to the content of the motion, proved abortive.

This shows how self-centered and selfish our Nigerian politicians can be. Again, it also shows how UNPREPARED and unserious we are as a nation, when it comes to managing health and disaster crises of such magnitude. Agreed the nation was able to contain and address the Ebola virus when it broke out some few years ago, but one would have expected some measure of CONCERN should be exhibited by the Nigerian Government and lawmakers towards Nigerians that are stranded in China over this deadly virus outbreak. If developed and world power countries could be scared, and take steps towards ensuring the health safety of their people, why has the Nigerian Government not doing much for its own people? Will preventing the evacuation of Nigerians in China, make us immune and untouchable to the said coronavirus? Obviously not!

All that we have seen so far in reports, regarding efforts being made concerning the coronavirus problem, is from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which has established a ‘Coronavirus Preparedness Group’ that includes Representatives from Port Health Services of the Federal Ministry of Health and other stakeholders. It meets daily to review the situation globally, assess the risk of spread and improve on Nigeria’s level of preparedness based on new findings and insights. According to Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu in a reported interview: “At the points of entry, screening has been heightened, particularly for passengers coming from China. This includes temperature checks, specific questions on known symptoms of the novel coronavirus and travel history. We have also provided a public health advisory to Nigerians on what to do if they suspect that there is a case of coronavirus, as well as how to protect themselves. Over the last three years, we have focused on strengthening our emergency coordination, surveillance, public health laboratory and risk communications capacities. We continue to build on this to ensure that we are better prepared in the event of an outbreak.

“One of the key lessons from our response to the Ebola outbreak was the need to build systems in ‘peace time’ that can be used during outbreaks. Over the last three years, we have strengthened capacity at our National Reference Laboratory to provide molecular diagnosis for all epidemic prone diseases and highly infectious pathogens such as the Ebola virus. For coronavirus, the capacity to test depends on laboratory equipment, primers specific for pathogens and technical expertise. At the moment, we are receiving advice from the WHO on gaining access to the primers to be used for this ‘new’ virus. Our National Reference Laboratory is the system in place for diagnosis of pathogens such as the coronavirus.”

We know that the Emergency Committee reconvened by the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General on the 30th January 2020, declared the novel coronavirus 2019 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). And the Committee does not recommend any travel or trade restriction based on the current information available. It also noted that it is expected that further international exportation of cases may appear in any country. Thus, all countries should be prepared for containment and prevention of onward spread of the virus, and to share full data with WHO. The Committee believes that it is still possible to interrupt virus spread, provided countries put in place strong measures to detect disease early, isolate and treat cases, trace contacts and promote social distancing measures commensurate with the risk.

These areas where we believe more should be done by the Nigerian Government and its agencies concerned in educating Nigerians about the said virus, and assuring the people of the measures being put in place to prevent the spread of the disease.

Zik Gbemre

National Coordinator

Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NPDC)

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