Ebola Control or Good Governance ,By Issa Aremu

After organizing two successful awareness workshops on Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), in Lagos and Kaduna, the sub- Secretariat and Headquarters of my union,National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers, I bear witness that the dreaded disease is undoubtedly real and dangerous and must be controlled at all costs. And having initiated a dialogue with sector employers on Ebola Workplace policy with respect to awareness for workers at the point of entry into work place, while at work and preparations for the workers’ family in the event of Ill-health, yours sincerely is sufficiently converted into Ebola control gospel. The commendable full disclosures of the Honourable Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu have also underscored the good news that we are winning the war against the disease for which a cure is yet to be found.
With the officially acknowledged seven (7) EVD deaths (five (5) of them in Lagos, one (1) in a private hospital, the index case Mr. Sawyer, and the other four (4) in the isolation ward and nineteen (19) confirmed cases, fifteen (15) in Lagos and four (4) in Port Harcourt, we can only intensify the Ebola control, not less. However the recent avoidable binary arguments for and against the re-opening of schools by all the stakeholders as part of the Ebola control measures tasks our imagination for good governance beyond just epidemic control measures. Briefing State House correspondents after the weekly FEC meeting in Abuja the Minister health minister said his counterpart in the education ministry, after a meeting with the Commissioners for Education from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had agreed on the September 22nd resumption date as against the earlier October date announced by the Honourable Minister of Education. However Doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association faulted the Federal Government’s directive to schools to resume on September 22 as against October 12. NMA even suggested that schools be shut down till next year until the “….the last suspected case or patient is certified free of the virus,”.
The National President of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Mr. Michael Olukoya has even added a conspiracy theory alleging that it was private proprietors of schools that are putting pressures on government for early resumption when adequate measures are not yet in place in schools of the disease prevention. NUT also accused government of non- consultation before the date announcement. It is a sad commentary that a disease control that calls for cooperation is proving to be another source of conflict and disagreement. Paradoxically all the stakeholders are saying the same thing albeit in an unhelpful monologue rather than through the necessary and useful dialogue. Certainly everybody desires and works for Ebola containment ! So also everybody desires undisrupted educational service delivery at primary and secondary levels. These are challenges in the face of a viral deadly disease that has no cure yet and had indeed claimed lives of even those trained to save all; namely Doctors ans Nurses alike. We must avoid the pitfall of binary argument of either reopening the school today or tomorrow or waiting to first fight and contain Ebola virus. We must contain Ebola no less than we must also ensure uninterrupted educational service delivery for our children.
All the above calls for not just any governance but good, smart and all inclusive governance. We recently allowed the Cup of Nations qualifier match between Nigeria and Congo in Calabar to take place with all the commendable precautions of screening all fans. What was good for football is even more desirable for schools where knowledge and education for the future is being taught. Again it’s all about cooperation and good governance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) controlling Ebola calls for good hygiene which must start with washing of hands regularly with soap and clean water. But this basic hygiene is made difficult with the crisis of water supply in Nigeria in both urban and rural areas. An infected person’s symptoms include fever, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, headache and fatigue – followed by nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. These symptoms can only be better managed with good public health care which again calls for good governance. The greatest fear is actually the fear of Ebola. Only government can help to dispel Ebola myth and put an end to stigmatization. We need public enlightenment to dispel rumours. We need to urgently reopen schools as much as we must ensure good governance to control Ebola virus and indeed put an end to other diseases that are preventable but also have cure such as malaria, polio and cholera.
Issa Aremu mni