Ebola: FG does not want to go back on September 22 school resumption date

by Laila Ibrahim

The Federal Government will not go back on it’s decision for the resumption of schools on the new set date of 22 September. According to the minister of Health Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu who spoke after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, there is no scientific basis for the resumption date to be postponed.

Chukwu, who briefed FEC on the latest developments regarding the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the country, said government is yet to be properly briefed on why schools should not resume as at the set date.

Seated alongside the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, Chukwu said the date for resumption was agreed upon by the Minister of Education and commissioners of education in all the states of the federation.

“The minister of education after meeting with the commissioners for education from the 36 states and FCT decided when public schools should open which they told us is 22nd of September. In taking that decision, they used information that was given by the federal Minister of Health to the fact there is actually no reason now with the expert information we have at hand why no schools cannot resume earlier than the original date of October 13th.”

“I think people should just allow us to do the work we have been doing very professionally. It was based on advice given by the Ministry of Health that the Minister of Education took the original decision that it was going to be in October and nobody quarrelled with the minister, now the minister, based on expert advice, has come back to say well, for us, if you are asking us we don’t have any reason to stop that. And everybody is now quarrelling. I think we should allow the authorities to do their jobs. It is not an ordinary matter to be discussed the way we want to discuss it.

“If you have any evidence why there is need to review, supply such evidence to the Minister of Health, we will look at it, because we may never know, you may a real reason. But it is not something people to just wake up and begin to make comments. We are very serious, we should be sober about this situation in Nigeria; we must be extremely careful.

“We have allowed a football match to go on and we screened every fan in Calabar, we screened every player and everybody, even the governor and the wife were screened. We are dead serious, we are not perfect, but I know we are trying to encourage everybody in Nigeria to collaborate. We don’t need to close the world, we don’t need to say nobody should go to work in Nigeria. There is absolutely no reason for that. I will tell you why.

“First unlike other countries, there is no community transmission of the disease in Nigeria; not one yet. But we have taken precautions, what we are doing, we may as well have said everybody should just be moving about, but we are taking precautions. There is no scientific basis for school resumption to be postponed. There is no community transmission of the disease in Nigeria. That is what separates Nigeria from other countries. It is what I call irrational fear, we don’t need to be irrational about this”.

NMA against September resumption date

The Nigerian Medical Association had on Monday faulted the Government’s decision ordering the resumption of schools on September 22 as against the earlier set date of October 12 adding that schools ought to remain shut until all those under surveillance for the Ebola Virus Disease in the country had been certified free.

The NMA had gone ahead to suggest that the resumption of schools be shifted to December or early part of next year because if Ebola should spread to any school, it would “assume another dimension”.

In his briefing, Chukwu spoke on the NMA stance against the resumption date saying, “You have asked about NMA, the only information I had from NMA was that someone informed me that he had been appointed to head a committee being set up by the NMA on EVD. And I replied that person saying we welcomed that as a government and as federal ministry of health we look forward to collaboration.”

“Now, collaboration doesn’t mean going to media. With all due respect. Collaboration means if they have information they should give it to the federal ministry of health or the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. I have not received any such information, so if you are telling me what is in the media I would investigate. I’ll probably call them to let me know the basis of what they are saying through the media.”

“The most important thing is that let’s work together but let’s be rational in whatever we are doing so that we don’t cause panic. Panic is not welcome in this business, otherwise we will be in trouble”.

The Health Minister further stated that no single new case of the Ebola Virus has been recorded again in the country.

OAU incident confirmed, but not yet certain

The minister confirmed the case of a student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, who has been quarantined in a facility in Lagos, stating that she had primary contact with the late doctor in Port Harcourt, Dr. Iyke Enemuo, who secretly treated Olu-Ibukun Koye, another ECOWAS official at a hotel in Port Harcourt.

He said that the student voluntarily came to confirm that she had contact with the dead doctor adding that she was being treated as a suspected case, and commended the school authority particularly the Vice Chancellor of the University for the procedure he adopted to report the case.

US reneges on donations

Meanwhile, the minister of health announced that the United States has reneged on its earlier promise to provide 30 body scanners for the country.

Prof. Chukwu noted that the US government had changed their stance, saying they had meant they were going to donate 30 handheld infared scanners and not body scanners.

He however added that Nigeria was not depending on external help as it has a vibrant priavate sector adding that already the Dangote Foundation had ordered for 12 body scanners while other groups had ordered for 12 more making a total of 24.

Culled from www.ynaija.com