by Laila Ibrahim

On Thursday, 16 October, President Goodluck Jonathan credited the Nigerian populace for the successful halt of the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease, saying that the cooperation of Nigerians helped in stopping the virus in its tracks.

Jonathan made the comments at the Presidential Villa, in Abuja, during the Elumelu Nigeria Empowerment Fund, to support victims of terrorism in the North Eastern part of the country.

He said, “When government said we must be mindful of gatherings, of handshakes, we should not move corpse unnecessarily, even churches that I was afraid will resist‎ because of practice of Holy Communion having 1,000 people sharing the same cup and so on, churches stopped that practice within that period. Even the saluting by shaking people across all those were suspended by religious organisations within that period.”

He stated that Nigerian embraced an attitude of extreme caution and optimum hygiene during the subtle outbreak, which culminated in the quick stop of the spread. He added that no Governor or President should take the credit, but the ‘ordinary Nigerians’.

“Nigerians became mindful, friends stopped embracing themselves saying until we get out of Ebola. So it had the buy-in of the populace of course that is why we succeeded so fast otherwise we couldn’t have. There is no magic government would have used to solve that problem, no President or state governor will claim any credit. The credit should go to the ordinary Nigerians for the cooperation and buy-in” Jonathan added.

Speaking on the Elumelu fund, which was meant for the rehabilitation of communities affected by the reign of terror, he said it would require interventions from the private sector as well as the government to help the displaced people.

He said, “I have realized over the period that government alone cannot solve human problems. Anything done by government once you involve the private sector and the civil society there is always a difference.”

Kolapo Olapoju