If all the problems confronting Nigeria were tackled the way
the dreaded Ebola virus disease was tackled, Nigeria might shock the world with
a quantum all round leap even before 2020. For the first time in a really long
time, politicians sounded sincere and reasonable, PDP and APC sheathed their
swords and found a fusion of thoughts, even Boko Haram ducked for Ebola to
pass. We did not hear the normal blame game tantrums that ramble from different quarters. While doctors at First Consultants were battling to
quarantine Mr Patrick Sawyer, the man that brought Ebola to Nigeria, some people at MTN’s Boys’ quarter or perhaps in some
superstitious rumour mill were conjuring up a salt and water solution. It’s still
shocking how people bought into that salt water bath hoax. Everyone became suddenly
aware of the plenty germs transferred by a single handshake. There were other
innovations, the Ebola greeting with the waist or maybe someone cooking a
little child in a salt solution. Anyway, thank God, we are an Ebola free
nation, many thanks to the strategy employed by the ministry of health, and the
heroic efforts and ultimate sacrifice of the likes of Dr Adedevoh, who
contracted Ebola in a bid to quarantine Mr Sawyer.
While Nigeria was hunched under the weight of Ebola, a very
good friend of mine was supposed to travel to South Korea for her Masters. In
the wake of the Ebola heat, their entrance into South Korea was deferred. South Korea banned all the Scholarship students coming from Ebola prone areas as a safe
measure. As they declared Nigeria Ebola free, South Korea has since called them
to start school. While talking to her this week before she left, she was full of smiles
and happy that being Nigerian did not get to frustrate her dreams this time. More business doors have also opened for many people since Nigeria became Ebola free. Confidence
creeps into our minds, that if we work together, there is no mountain we
cannot surmount. Many countries are using the Nigeria strategy as a model for fighting Ebola in their countries.The task now is to keep up surveillance, prevent re-entrance and continue in the assistance to other Ebola prone regions. Can we bring this unity of diversity to conquer our other internal enemies? What else are some benefits of being from an Ebola free
country?
