Politics
–
Nigeria for Change, a non-governmental organisation has asked politicians from Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress to desist from generating unnecessary controversy over who should be acclaimed for containing the Ebola Virus Disease
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Oct. 20, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
THE controversy over who should take the glory of Nigeria’s successful containment of the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, is raging. The All Progressives Congress, APC, wants to be lauded for being proactive in tackling the disease which first manifested in APC controlled states while the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, also wants acclaim because of its timely intervention and providing the required resources to fight the disease. On the hand, the Nigerians for Change, a nongovernmental organisation, NGO, has called on politicians in the country not to play politics with the containment of the EVD.
The controversy was triggered by President Jonathan on September 27, at the PDP unity rally in Benin City, Edo State, when he said the successful efforts of containing EVD was a good example for all Nigerians to learn the strength of unity and what can be accomplished when Nigerians are united to fight challenges. According to the president, it was not just one person, or president or governors or other officials, but the country defeated Ebola because all Nigerians agreed to fight the war against Ebola. “You are all aware that we conquered Ebola. And we shall surely conquer Boko Haram. Like Ebola, we will defeat Boko Haram,” he said.
But the APC had accused the president and the PDP of appropriating the glory of the country’s successful containment of EVD to itself. The APC said two of its governors, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State deserved as much credit as the federal government on the success story of Ebola containment. The APC said two of its governors, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State deserved as much credit as the federal government on the success story of Ebola containment.
It added that it would amount to sheer dishonesty for the duo to allegedly turn what was a collective effort to a PDP campaign issue. In a statement issued in London, Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary of the party, the APC, however, praised the minister of health for a job well done and professionalism in the containment of the disease.
The party said President Jonathan and his party were wrong to have allegedly appropriated the credit for the successful containment of the EVD without giving due credit to the real heroes of the successful battle like Stella Adadevoh and her colleagues at the First Consultant Hospital; officials of the ministries of health in Lagos and Rivers States and the patriotic Nigerian volunteers, among others.
It described as a cheap shot the president’s alleged decision to make the Ebola success story a campaign issue during a PDP rally in Benin, allegedly giving the impression that only the PDP deserved the credit for the successful containment of the disease. APC said while indeed, the minister of health exhibited a kind of professionalism and purposefulness not common with the Jonathan-led administration during the battle against Ebola, it would be uncharitable for the PDP-led federal government to pretend as if the government of the two affected states did nothing.
The party reminded President Jonathan that the two states hit by Ebola, Lagos and Rivers were APC states and that the promptness, purposefulness, doggedness and determination shown by the governors of the states contributed largely to the successful containment of the virulent disease.
Nonetheless, Kingsley Omose, coordinator of the group, said at a press conference on Wednesday, October 8, in Lagos, that the country should be celebrating the victory over EVD rather than politicising it. “For a country like ours that is still struggling to attain the Millennium Development Goals, which constitute a critical index of development, it’s gratifying that the government of President Goodluck Jonathan has led a successful effort to surmount and contain the dreaded pandemic.
In recognition of the country’s effort in this regard, the World Health Organisation, WHO, and the United States Centre for Disease Control have commended the Nigerian government for a job well done,” he said.
Omose said the group commends all Nigerians in their collaborative efforts to contain the EVD, even in the face of a struggling health sector. “Indeed, our success in containing the EVD is the kind of change we have been yearning for. Nigerians for Change as an organisation is committed to positive change on the Nigerian landscape. We want to see our country move more towards the proactive approach in addressing issues similar to what was done by the government in containing EVD. We join these aforementioned organisations in commending the Nigerian government. In a continent like Africa where EVD is ravaging countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, it is worthy of note that our country has succeeded where others are still grappling to contain the spread of the disease.”
According to the group, if the government will drop the blame-game and work together, the issues facing the country would have become a thing of the past. “We recognise that fact that in this political season, politicians are likely to be tempted to make political capital out of every issue, but the Ebola success story is too important to be trivialised.”
On his part, Jide Johnson, head, Mass Communication Department, Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, and member of the group, said without true governance, the country would continue to be attacked through the loop holes created by Nigerian politicians. He advised the politicians to put their political affiliations and interests aside and embrace true governance, as the only way to ensuring even developments.
Johnson said the interest of the group was that the country needed the kind of collaboration witnessed during the outbreak of EVD in the country. “For the very first time in the history of the country, Nigeria was commended by international community for its efforts in the fight against EVD,” he said.
The group thanked the federal government led by President Jonathan, Onyebuchi Chukwu, minister of health, Lagos and Rivers States governors and their respective commissioners for health, in addition to all other health practitioners for their roles in containing EVD. It commended the management and staff of First Consultant Hospital, Lagos, for its heroic response in containing the epidemic. The group also commended the media for its proactive role in creating public awareness of the scourge.
|
Tags:
