President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats and directed the immediate release of N10 billion to strengthen Nigeria’s readiness against a possible outbreak.
The emergency intervention fund is expected to boost the operational preparedness of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and support critical public health emergency response activities across the country.
The newly constituted task force will be chaired by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, and will comprise representatives of relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as state governments.
The approval followed a high-level stakeholders’ meeting convened by Gbajabiamila to assess Nigeria’s preparedness and formulate strategies to prevent the importation of Ebola into the country following recent outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Participants at the meeting included officials from the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Lagos State Government and other critical stakeholders.
As part of the preparedness measures, President Tinubu directed all states hosting international airports and border corridors, along with relevant agencies, to submit their response plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for coordinated implementation.
The task force is expected to intensify passenger screening at all international airports through enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control measures. Authorities will also increase surveillance of passengers arriving through high-risk airline routes, including those operated by Air Uganda, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, TAAG Angola Airlines, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.
In addition, the government has ordered the immediate activation of referral and isolation centres at the international airports in Lagos and Abuja, with similar facilities to be established at other airports nationwide.
Other measures include the mandatory deployment of QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration systems for travellers arriving from or transiting through designated high-risk countries. Airport authorities have also been directed to carry out routine disinfection of departure halls, cargo terminals, baggage handling areas and other airport facilities.
President Tinubu further instructed the advisory group to work closely with security, diplomatic and aviation agencies to review and regulate flights originating from affected and high-risk countries where necessary.
The task force is also expected to designate specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights to facilitate controlled screening and isolation procedures, while considering flight schedule adjustments to reduce interaction between high-risk passengers and other travellers.
The federal government said the measures are aimed at safeguarding public health and preventing a repeat of the Ebola outbreak that previously posed a significant threat to Nigeria and other countries in the region.
