The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has, in the last 48 hours, dominated headlines for the wrong reasons. First, it was the statement credited to its Director-General, Dr. Jide Idris, on Channels Television’s Politics Today that the 2027 general elections may be postponed if Ebola spreads widely. Second, is the latest report by The PinPoint News that the Federal Government is planning to equip Treatment Centres across states as contacts rise to 53, while offering N100,000 weekly to each person placed in quarantine.
As a concerned Nigerian, I find these two developments disturbing, suspicious, and a classic Nigerian pattern of turning every emergency into a money-making venture.
A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT: ELECTION POSTPONEMENT
Dr. Idris said, “We hope the election will not be postponed, but if the thing gets wide enough, that might be considered. As of now, there is no need for that.” Though he added that disease should not be used as a political weapon, the mere mention of postponement is enough to trigger anxiety.
We must remind the NCDC that Nigeria is a constitutional democracy. We contained the deadly Ebola virus in 2014 under President Goodluck Jonathan without postponing any election. In fact, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where thousands died, did not cancel democracy. Why should Nigeria, with one imported case, be contemplating the postponement of an election that is still 15 months away? This is how tenure elongation and unconstitutional theories start.
FROM N10 BILLION TO N100,000 WEEKLY: ANOTHER COVID-19 LOOTING RELOADED?
What Nigerians feared most is already happening. We have read that a N10 Billion intervention fund has already been approved for Ebola preparedness. The DG himself admitted that this fund was not originally for Ebola but for endemic diseases like Lassa fever.
Now, another expenditure line has been invented on the spot: N100,000 per person per week for those in isolation.
Let us do simple mathematics. For 53 contacts currently, that is N5.3 million every week and N21.2 million monthly for doing nothing. If tomorrow the NCDC announces 500 contacts, which is easy to inflate, we are talking about N50 million weekly and N200 million monthly. If it becomes 1,000 contacts, it is N100 million weekly.
Where is the budgetary provision? Who approved it? Who audits it? The DG said himself: “This was not planned for, but it is an emergency.” That is exactly how COVID-19 funds disappeared. Billions were donated locally and internationally and borrowed from the World Bank, yet there was no isolation centre to show and no accountability till today. We must not allow Ebola to become Ebola Business.
WHAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO INSTEAD
If the Federal Government is serious about containing Ebola, here is what responsible leadership should do:
1. Quarantine Our International Borders, Not Our People:
Ebola in Nigeria today is imported. It came through international travel. Therefore, the government must immediately activate strict health quarantine and mandatory screening at all international entry points. This includes Murtala Muhammed International Airport (Lagos), Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (Abuja), Port Harcourt International Airport (Omagwa), Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (Kano), Akanu Ibiam International Airport (Enugu), as well as our land borders in Seme (Lagos), Idiroko (Ogun), Jibiya (Katsina), Mfum (Cross River), Maigatari (Jigawa) and other major borders. Every inbound passenger, especially from the Democratic Republic of Congo and other affected regions, must be properly screened, tested, and quarantined. Prevention is cheaper than paying N100,000 weekly.
2. Transparency on N10 Billion:
The Federal Government must publish a breakdown of the N10 Billion. Nigerians want to see a state-by-state list of treatment centres, equipment procured, laboratory reagents, and how much goes to logistics. No more audio spending.
3. Leave INEC and 2027 Elections Alone:
INEC has a constitutional mandate. The NCDC has no power to postpone elections. The National Assembly must make it clear that public health will never be used as an excuse to truncate democracy.
CONCLUSION
Ebola is real and deadly, but it is preventable and containable. What Nigeria needs is a serious, transparent, border-focused, and people-centred public health response. What we do not need is panic-inducing statements about election postponement and the creation of new financial pipelines for officials to loot the treasury.
We want containment, not cash-sharing.
We want border security, not ballot postponement.
We want treatment centres, not treasury looting.
Ebola is a health emergency, not a business emergency.
Signed:
Comrade James Onifade
Advocate for Good Governance and Judicial Reform
