Close The Borders… Now!!!

Ebola? Close The Borders… Now!!!

Then there was the position taken by the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, when he was reported to have stated that an isolated case is not enough to shut the nation’s borders against its neighbors.

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Hannatu Musawa Hanney Musawa Watching the news clip of the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu speaking at an interactive meeting between the Nigerian government and diplomats on measures to contain the outbreak of one of the world's most lethal infectious diseases, I was frustrated and incensed.

As the Minister spoke of the processes that the government had adopted in order to contain Ebola; including, intense training and public awareness of the disease and screening of outbound passengers at the ports, he also announced that the Nigerian government had no intention of closing its borders.

The Minister stated that there was no plan for the government to, at this time, take such a measure but would not hesitate to do so when and if the need arose. In his words (I quote), “If we did close (the borders), what we have only done is to alienate the people to go underground… And if they go underground, it means that people are not on our radar… And if they are not on our radar, we are not screening them.” It was reported that the Minister then went ahead to advise the public that there was no need to use gloves… as it may further aid the spread of Ebola.
Now, call me acerbic but, after living for decades with a clear understanding of what common sense is, I am ‘not’ prepared to loose rationality to the Honorable Minister’s rhetoric when that rhetoric challenges reason and makes absolutely no sense. I am not prepared to follow that rhetoric like a fool at logic's expense… at least not when the subject matter is a deadly virus epidemic of a magnitude never before seen! Are you serious Mr. Honorable Minister? Are you seriously trying to say that the effect of closing the Nigerian borders will only result in people going underground and out of your radar rather than containing the virus? Are you really trying to convince the public that wearing gloves may further aid the spread of the disease?
Listening to the words of the Health Minister took me back to a speech by Guinea’s president, President Alpha Condé, in April when he appealed to his citizens for calm at the panic raised by the initial spread of the virus. “My government and I are very worried about this epidemic,” he said and he went ahead to assure Guineans that the government had taken strict precautions to avoid the further spread of the disease.
Similarly, back in April, Sierra Leone’s chief medical officer, in order to calm the panic raised by Sierra Leoneans, spoke about the extensive screening processes that had been introduced in the country’s borders.
Looking back at the declaration of the Guinean and Sierra Leonean leadership about restrictions to travel and cross border exchanges, appeal for calm and assurances that every precaution to ensure that the disease stays contained had been taken by the authorities, it is safe to say that the measures they put in place weren’t altogether successful; considering the fact that the outbreak eventually found its way out of those countries and has infiltrated and alarmed a number of governments across the West African region, including Nigeria.
Then there was the position taken by the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, when he was reported to have stated that an isolated case is not enough to shut the nation’s borders against its neighbors.
At this stage, I’m going to have to take a break; because I’m going to need the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, to take five solid seats at the back left hand corner of the hall and the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, to take a full stadium of seats for the ‘perilous, imprudent, negligent and deficient’ position they have taken on this biggest threat to humanity!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but we are talking about one of the most challenging outbreaks of a deadly haemorrhagic fever, which can wipe out the whole of humanity, aren’t we? Please remind me again; the subject matter ‘is’ a virus with the ability to move faster than human scientific communications and control capacities, right? Now just incase anyone missed it, the disease that both Ministers are speaking about is one that has been described as, ‘the deadliest in recorded history!’ …That is what we are playing “The Sinking of the Titanic” with, Ladies and gentlemen!
To get straight to the point; this issue is about death! Point, blank and period! Indeed, if this was Russian-Roulette loaded with a blank, as opposed to a real bullet, then going with the flow, in the manner we oft do in Nigeria, would be an option, despite what logic dictates. But this Ebola business is the real deal. It is not about party politics, or an insurgency by raving lunatics; it is not about ‘my interest’ against ‘your interest,’ culture religion or tribe. This issue is about a deadly, deadly, ferocious disease, of which the outcome cannot be predicted. So, by way of advise, both Minister’s, perhaps, need to fully comprehend that this is not the time for the government, for the opposition, for devil’s advocates or anyone else, for that matter, to tender only paying lip-service to such a threat from an extreme danger, the likes that we have never, ever seen before!
While one wouldn’t advocate for people to give into panic, irrationally act out of alarm or stigmatize mildly sick people, there is undoubtedly a need for the government to order the complete closure of all Nigerian borders; land, sea and air with immediate effect! Putting checks on all airports across the country is just not good enough, not in this instance. Unless one is a bird or a mosquito, no human being, dog, sheep, cattle, cat, ram, goat or horse should be allowed to come in or go out of Nigeria until the cases of Ebola within our shores have been detected and those who have come in contact with victims have been quarantined.
Initially, the spread of the current outbreak seemed to have slowed down, but has unfortunately picked up pace again in the past couple of weeks.  Now it is apparent that the virus is progressing faster than all the work done to try and contain it. If the condition gets any worse than it is now, the effects could become cataclysmic. The tragedy of Ebola is that, just one undetected infected person can provoke a global epidemic.
Certainly it is difficult to disagree with the Chairman of TIEMS, Nigeria (The International Emergency Management Society), West Africa, Muhammad Audu-Bida, who advised the government to close all Nigerian borders until the virus is contained. This view is predicated on the notion that the isolation of individual cases is too much of a weak measure in comprehensively ensuring the containment of the disease.
We should be able to learn from the haphazard manner in which Guinea and its border countries of Liberia, and Sierra Leone failed to contain and curtail the spread of the deadly virus. The government of, especially, Guinea, where the virus originated from, has done an abysmal job in trying to curb or curtail the spread of the lethal virus within its own borders and to other countries in the region. Perchance, if the country has closed its borders from the onset and the virus had been curtailed, the world wouldn’t have to be facing such a quandary that the virus is currently posing.
All the countries that have been affected with this virus need to seriously reflect on their lax response to the Ebola situation. Every single country in the world has had ample warning about Ebola. Since the first outbreak in Guinea back in March and the first case of a woman going into Liberia from Guinea, all countries should have taken preventive measures. It is a crying shame that it is only now, 5 months on and almost 1,000 deaths later, that governments are declaring an Ebola emergency.
The emergency declared as a result of the Ebola virus in Nigeria is a step in the right direction, but that step is really not enough. I mean, think about it; the measures that the Nigerian government have taken now are not so much different to those taken and announced by the Guinean, Liberian and Sierra Leonean governments before the disease spilled onto the Nigerian shores. And even now, as we observe the emergency declared, already news reports state that Benin has reported two cases of the deadly Ebola virus. The Health Minister of Benin announced the death of one suspected case and the quarantine of another who had, incidentally, returned to Benin from Lagos.
The closure of Nigerian borders until the disease is contained is not just for the purpose of protecting Nigeria from infected people coming into the country, it is also to protect the rest of the world from what Nigeria is taking out. Since Mr. Patrick Sawyer made the conscious decision to come into Nigeria, after knowingly having contact with a family member who died from Ebola, he placed on Nigeria a burden, which has got to be completely offloaded. The Liberian government’s sheer incompetence and ‘uselessness’ in failing to stop the movement of Mr. Sawyer and allowing him to travel abroad, having known he was taking care of his sister, who was infected and later died of the virus, is astounding. The Liberian authorities have admitted to being aware of Mr. Sawyer’s medical condition. He had, apparently, been put under surveillance by Liberian health authorities but escaped quarantine and managed to book and board a flight heading out of the country. Unbelievable!!!
In addition to the apology that the Liberian president has issued to Nigeria for her government’s incredible ‘inability’ to manage even the simplest of tasks of keeping ‘one’ man in quarantine, there should be an official apology and possible compensation for the families of the doctors, nurses and all those who have lost their lives or have contracted Ebola as a result of the direct selfishness and recklessness of both late Mr. Patrick Sawyer and the Liberian government. And if we later learn that the reason for Mr. Patrick Sawyer’s haste to travel to Nigeria in his condition was because of a directive from his employers at ECOWAS, and not because he personally wanted to fulfill the condition of collecting ‘estacode’ (money provided to pay for travel expenses for corporate officers), then ECOWAS should be held ‘vicariously liable’ for any tort committed while he was conducting his official duties. Under Tort law, a strict liability has been imposed on ECOWAS for any wrongdoing of Mr. Sawyer while ‘in the course of his employment,’ so if it turns out that he was merely carrying out his duties, one would hope that the families of those directly affected would explore the possibility of filing a legal suit. Not that anything can bring back the family’s deceased loved ones back or repair the damage already done, but the only crime of those who came into direct contact with Mr. Sawyer was to help a very sick man. Therefore some accountability should be taken for the risk that was ‘wickedly’ imposed on them.
So, as we continue to groan and moan about the late Patrick Sawyer’s lack of good judgment in deciding to travel to Nigeria despite his infection and the Liberian government’s ‘worthlessness’ of letting a man who had been known to have contact with a victim of Ebola travel out, Nigeria’s lack of full-proof preventative measure is now posing, to other countries, the same threat Liberia posed to us.
The arrival of Ebola in Nigeria should be of great concern to every nation in the world. No country deserves the curse of Ebola, but the one country in Africa that Ebola does not need to find a base is Nigeria. With a population of approximately 170 million people, with a community so overcrowded and clustered, with an environment so overwhelmed with pollution, with borders so porous that insurgents navigate it at will, with hundreds of International flights leaving the country weekly, Nigeria would be a most dangerous hub for Ebola to fester.
The Nigerian authorities must understand that, with such an epidemic, the domestic and global situation cannot be kept separate because any lapse we have domestically can have dire global implications. Nigeria must appreciate the weight of the world to ensure the complete eradication of Ebola from within its borders that is presently resting on its shoulders. The very nature of Nigerian communities and family structures, the overcrowding, lack of access to health care and our over imaginative superstition, all provide a viral breading ground for a disease like Ebola.
Nigeria has a responsibility to its citizenry, the same duty Guinea failed its people, the same duty Liberia failed its people, and the same duty Sierra Leone failed its people, by shutting its borders, not only to protect our country from Ebola-prone countries but also to protect other countries from us, until the epidemic can be controlled. Failure to carry out this preemptive and decisive action would further render the world vulnerable and susceptible to a global pandemic.
Similarly, Lagos, the ground zero of Ebola in Nigeria, should also shut its borders for the duration of the stipulated incubation period and set up effective awareness campaigns enlightening the populace of the effects of the Ebola virus and the importance of reporting any suspected case within the period that lives can be saved. Once people understand that the only way to stop the virus is to prevent it and the only way to save the life of an infected person is to treat the symptoms early after infection, one would believe that people would cooperate and come forward when symptoms occur. If the virus is not contained and eradicated within Lagos and is allowed to get out of the state, the consequence would be extremely colossal for a population of 170-million people and, by extension, for the world.
For the future, African countries have got to try and improve the capacity of its various hygiene and medical systems to respond to all these health emergencies, whether it is Ebola, Lassa fever, Marbug, Cholera or any other disease. However, for now, sanitary gloves, disinfectants, sanitizers and face-masks (the likes of which I am displaying) should be made available to people in Lagos and other part of Nigeria in sensitive environments such as hospitals and laboratories to further help in curbing the spread of the virus. The basic protective gear displayed will primarily benefit those in high-risk environments but it’s not necessary for every day or domestic use.
Also, decisive action has got to be taken on some very worrying and emerging elements of this disease. Since news of Ebola broke, government authorities and medical experts have been battling misinformation and folktales with the capacity to worsen the situation. In one such incident a prank about ‘salt’ having the ability to kill Ebola was started by an attention seeking young woman who later sent a ‘salty’ confession to the media, if only to reinforce that desperation for attention.
 ‘But-for’ the fact her antics allegedly lead to the death of, at least two people and 20 others being hospitalized for consuming an excessive quantity of salt in order to protect themselves from the virus, she could have been known as the giggling fool. But now, she is something much worse. And one would hope that she understands the high price that has been paid and the shocking tragedy that has come from her quest for her ‘five minutes!’
Government must clamp down on those promoting false theories on, not just salt, but bitter kola as well. Equally, authorities must vehemently warn Muslim and Christian clerics and traditionalists from utterances that suggest an alternative to conventional medicine. Faith and spirituality is, no doubt, the most important component of any struggle and challenge, but we must ensure that it is channeled in a way that will help our communities follow the instructions of medical experts to contain and eradicate the disease as opposed to hindering efforts to try and get it under control. All religious leaders and herbalists must be given the explicit order not to make public statements on Ebola that may have dire results.
Another necessary target group for the authorities to clamp down on are the people who continue to insist on hunting and eating bush meat, despite the stern warning of the danger it may carry. Handling uncooked bat with the virus strain and eating bush meat are some of the ways experts suspect that the Ebola virus has been transmitted from the animal world to the human one, after which human-to-human contact then becomes possible.
Since the outbreak of the disease, several countries have banned the hunting or trading of bush meat. But unfortunately in most of those countries, many have ignored the ban and continued to expose themselves and the larger community to the risk of contracting the virus through their ingestion of bush-meat