24 Oct Problem and Solution 6
Nigeria did well with Ebola. Me I am proud o. Oga Jona deserves credit. If we were like Liberia now, everyone would blame him for not dealing with Ebola. Oga BRF deserves credit. Not only because Lagos state really started working fast but also because he understands that symbolism matters – he went to the health facilities himself, he took pictures with survivors; he made sure he was PRESENT. The biggest heroes are our health workers. The doctors and the nurses and lab technologists and the people who traced contacts. May those who died continue to rest in peace. May we always remember them with gratitude. We are trying. They are taking temperatures at airports. And banks. And public offices. But most people who travel in Nigeria do not do so by air. They do by car. Every day buses enter this country from other parts of West Africa. Why are motor parks not getting the same attention as airports? (I remember Oga Health Minister – before he left to run for governor – saying that sick-looking travellers need to show a health report before boarding buses at motor parks. What kind of rubbish is that? Health report kwa? In Nigeria? Me as I am here in Enugu I can produce twenty health reports now from a typist on Ogui road). Just because the first person who brought Ebola into Nigeria came by air does not mean that the next possible person will also come by air. Let us pay attention to road travel. We have tried but Ebola is still spreading. There is still a big chance that we will have another Ebola patient in Nigeria. So please keep washing your hands.