Issues
Ebola: South-East Strategies On Preventive Measures
The Ebola virus scare had put
the Anambra State in a frenzy; and the South East caught the fever. The scare was on the faces of the people; they couldn’t stop talking about this “latest deadly visitation.” The buzz was virtually everywhere. With arms akimbo, long forlorn faces, people huddled in corners just to talk and with shuddering resignation, exchanges uninformed conclusion on the “impending Armageddon.” The talks continued at various homes, in the motor parks, offices, churches and hospitals.
In the one week that the uncertainty reigned, while six people waited in apprehension in the hospital for coming in contact with suspected human remains, the fear was couched in the dreadful realization that “no one even knows how to contract this thing.” While the thought that “this disease could be transmitted by a mere touch was incomprehensible,” the inclusion of the “bush meat,” a choice dish in most part of the South East as a link was seen as manageable. Many swore to forgo the delicacy. The fragility of the unfolding scenario led to more fears, anxiety, confusion, conflicting prognosis.
Few people wanted to shake hands with anyone that works in a hospital. Few people looked eager to shake hands. No one dared contemplate the thought of contracting a disease with no known cure, yet.
“This is a life style changing situation that is blowing out before us,” said a curious health worker at the Anambra State Ministry of Health. “Even if you can turn a blind eye to the bush meat, how do you avoid body contact or the traditional handshake. If there is an outbreak in this zone, there will be chaos. People at too closely knit and families will be wiped out,” he said.
The evolving questions didn’t offer immediate answers. For example: Does anyone run a risk when they touch money handled by someone infected by Ebola? What happens when passengers bump into one another in a bus? How much contact with a victim can guarantee safety?
The questions grew, alongside the Ebola lore. First, there was a quiet resignation that there was Ebola in the air, and everyone was breathing it. Last Friday, it was said that a bomb was exploded somewhere, dispersing the virus. Most men, even without any contact are perpetually chewing bitter kola, with one or two more in their pockets. Said Chuks Nwoke, a property speculator in Enugu, “we are told that an ingredient in bitter kola can suppress the Ebola virus.”
Then, the rumour of the salted warm water therapy, which no one could ascertain its source broke out as a way to prevent Ebola. A medical doctor in Enugu said “there is nothing wrong in bathing with warm water,” while he dismissed as “hogwash” the idea that it could prevent Ebola.
People in Ebonyi, which has remained quiet since the scare broke out, were jolted like many others in other states in the morning of Friday about warm salted water. The State Health Commissioner Dr. Sunday Nwangele, dismissed the claim and said: “We have asked people to ignore such messages.”
A housewife said that she has asked her husband to buy gloves for their children, while she warned her husband not to touch the children when he is home from work until he has taken his bath. At a commercial bank in Enugu, customers deserted a particular teller after she left her counter briefly and returned with gloves. She aroused unspecified suspicions, none the customers wanted to explain.
To put a perspective on the strength of Ebola, it was compared with HIV and kidnapping. A prominent billionaire in Anambra joked that he was relocating to Enugu because kidnappers and his enemies could find a dreadful use for this Ebola to hunt their victims. No one lives with Ebola, but there are people living with HIV.
In Anambra, the Ebola scare, reportedly, nearly reignited the ancient war between the Aguleri and Umueri communities, in Anambra East Council. Both communities have been locked in a bloody war for decades. Famed as the longest war over ancestral lands in Nigeria, the war has been fought in trenches, farms, the Supreme Court in 1984 and the Privy Council long before Nigeria gained independence. And despite the several peace moves, a mutual air of suspicion continues to reign in both communities.
The primordial elements in that suspicion rose to the fore when on August 22, 2014, the six men, who were suspected to have come in contact with the corpse of one Ikechukwu Charles Okoye, the man, who was suspected to have been a victim of Ebola, were quarantined at the Umueri General Hospital. Immediately the news filtered from the Hospital, some youths in Umueri became restive. They quickly summed that the development should be regarded as part of the ancient war, this time declared by the State Governor, Willy Obiano, an Aguleri man. The major question was: “Has the governor decided to further decimate the Umueri population by bringing and infecting them with the deadly Ebola virus?” And, “why did the Government decide to use the Umueri General Hospital for the quarantine?”
According to the youths, there were better equipped hospitals in the neighborhood. An Umueri man in government who would not want to be mentioned said, “this might sound stupid to an outsider but it is not stupid to an Umueri man. Certainly, the Aguleri people would have nursed the same apprehension that the youths are quietly nursing. Why didn’t they go to the Charles Borromeo Hospital or the General Hospital in Onitsha. There is also the General Hospital in Iyienu, in Ogidi. These hospitals have better facilities in terms of equipment and manpower than what is available in Umueri.” While the speculations that the apprehension was building towards a protest by the youths thrived, the anxiety eased last week when the State Ministry of Health released the six persons restricted at the Umueri hospital.
The State Epidemiologist, Dr. Emmanuel Okafor, who conducted the release, said that the men were discharged after they showed no signs of being infected by Ebola and added emphatically that, “by this we can safely say that there is no Ebola in Anambra, for now.”
The men have been restricted since August 1st after they came in contact on July 22 with the remains of Okoye who died in Liberia on July 6, was flown to Lagos through Gambia Bird on July 21, arrived Anambra by road on July 22 and deposited at Apex Mortuary, Nkwelle Ezunaka, in Oyi Council.
A source in the state Ebola investigation team said, “during the period of their restriction, we didn’t notice any signs of the symptoms. The blood tests also support our observations and during this period, we didn’t notice any change in their body temperatures.”
However, the air of optimism is being relished with caution in some quarters as the state ministry of health awaits the results of tests carried out on the tissue taken from the human remains. “The blood tests are usually faster than the tests on the tissues. Tissues require extensive tests. We are waiting for the results from the tissue test from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH),” said the source.
Although the responses from some state governments followed almost immediately, it is uncertain if it has matched the fears of a citizenry, dwelling in the dark and relying on pure instincts to devise how to deal with an “this new disease.” Said Chike Maduekwe, lawyer and politician from Anambra who lives in Enugu, “we are all afraid. But we shouldn’t be paranoid about the situation considering the range of stories about the Ebola. Right now, the government should impose stricter controls at the borders and do more on information and public enlightenment. Right now, anything could be said to cause Ebola and the people don’t know what to believe.”
The immediate concern of some state governments was to respond to the fears and anxieties of the citizenry by harping on the rehabilitation of medical facilities and putting in place structures to deal with any emergencies. The response sounded as if there was already an epidemic in the South East.
In Abia, the Governor, Theodore Ahamefula Orji told the people of Abia to continue to “pray that the virus doesn’t come to Abia,” to be wary and avoid certain bush meats. In addition to the prayers, the state has designated certain hospitals across the state as Ebola centers, where anyone who showed symptoms could quickly and easily be taken to.
The Imo State Government moved quickly to compile a number of measures it has put in place to protect the citizenry from the Ebola virus. The Health Commissioner, Dr. Edward Ihejirika, while cautioning against panic by the residents, told journalists that the state government has arranged the procurement of personal protective equipment for health workers just as he warned against the consumption of such bush meats as monkeys and similar delicacies.
The Health Commissioner in Enugu State, Dr. George Eze, dismissed the presence of Ebola in the state, calling on the public not to panic but to take adequate precautions. Insisting that the state was not taking anything for granted, he said that measures have been put on the ground to guard against the disease.
“Up till now,” he said, “we have not established any Ebola case in Enugu. The threat is elsewhere across the country but we are guarding against it. We have a well trained manpower and our specialists have put heads together on how to manage the situation.”
Unsure of how to prepare for Ebola, he said, that “our best approach is to prepare ourselves to tackle this scourge if it comes. Previous ones have been contained, so we believe that this one will be contained.”
In Anambra, where all this started, the Governor, Willie Obiano ordered the state Health Ministry to acquire at least 400 Personal Protective Equipment to prevent the state health workers from contracting the virus. The Health Commissioner for Health, Dr. Josephat Akabuike noted the inauguration of a rapid response team to handle emergencies in the health sector.
As the state kicked into action by the setting up of a committee to work out a proper response in future, a member of the committee, who is also on the state’s team that investigated the Ebola scare, said, “we want to proactive in health matters. We know that our people are well travelled, they live in various parts of the world, some in the Ebola belt, and we need to be careful.
“The process is on for the training of laboratory scientists and clinicians for the management of epidemics. We have ordered the printing of posters, pamphlets and endorsed other public enlightenment methods to educate people on Ebola.”
Akabuike, a gynaecologist, had noted that, “In Anambra, we have epidemiologists who monitor the environment and we are planning to purchase mobile ambulances and clinics to move them to areas of emphasis to enable us respond timely in case of emergencies. We are also doing public enlightenment through the media, communities and churches to keep people at alert.”
Symptoms associated with Ebola include malaria, persistent diarrhea (gastroenteritis) and fever, weakness, waist pain and bleeding from every opening in the body.
With the illness incurable, why all the activity? Akabuike said: “Although Ebola virus disease is incurable, symptomatic treatment can be given to an Ebola patient to rehabilitate the person and that is why the State government has moved to acquire personal protective equipment for health workers to protect them from contracting it.”
Kodilinye Obiagwu
L-R: Minister of State for Health, Dr Khaliru Alhassan, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu and Minister of State 2 for Foreign Affairs, Mr Nurudeen Mohammed briefing Heads of Foreign Missions in Nigeria on Ebola Virus in Abuja, recently.
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
