As We Kick Out Ebola, Shall We Let its Lessons Kick In?

September 14, 2014

As we emerge from the gradually waning pall of darkness that Ebola cast on our country over the past several weeks, we take advantage of the slowly brightening skies to reflect on the losses we have conceded and the gains we have made. Like the Londoners who endured the darkness of the blitzkrieg of Nazi Germany and eventually woke up to the dawn that was the aftermath of the D-Day landings, we are gradually beginning to emerge from our cocoons of fear into the dawning realization that maybe, just maybe, this too shall someday pass.

True, we lost seven people, but we saved 12, and with those 12, all of Nigeria. The families and friends of those seven people have each of them recorded a 100% loss by the respective passings of their loved ones. But those people - those selfless Nigerians, those true Nigerians - gave their lives in defence of our nation, in much the same way as soldiers do in defence of their countries' interests. It is our place to ensure that, like our national song proclaims, their labours, yea, even their deaths shall never be in vain. We may publish eulogies and write epitaphs; we may canonize them or erect mausoleums in their honour; but if we want to pay truly tribute to their heroism, we would immortalize the legacy they have left us. This we can do by permanently embedding into our national consciousness the lessons that the horror of this epidemic has taught us:

1. Our awareness of and attention to our personal hygiene, which was heightened by this epidemic, should remain at this all-time high. We should resist the temptation to allow the passage of time result in the erosion of the good habits of handwashing and handrubbing (via the use of hand sanitizers) that Ebola so eloquently taught us.
2. Our governments displayed a degree of proactive behaviour that I personally could never have believed possible. There are any number of opinions as to what motivated the unusual finesse with which our governments tackled Ebola. For me, there is a special beauty in the way the PDP government at the centre and the APC governments in the two states that were hit by the virus put aside all their bickering and concentrated on making Nigeria safe for everyone. I hope this coming together to solve national problems irrespective of party affiliations will continue in the face of other existential threats to our nationhood, particularly the threat that is referred to as Boko Haram. There are those of us who care neither for APC nor for PDP but crave good governance, security, and basic infrastructure from whoever can provide it.
3. We have always felt that our ports of entry and exit are vulnerable to any number of threats. Mr Patrick Sawyer amply demonstrated this vulnerability. I would expect the prevalent notion in government circles to be "Never Again".
4. The media community - particularly Channels TV, Africa Independent Television, Raypower FM, and Rhythm FM - were unrelenting in their awareness campaigns. Very obvious latecomers to the sensitization drive were the mobile network operators, and when they did come on board, only MTN did any campaigning really worth appreciating here. I hope that beyond Ebola, Rhythm FM keeps up its HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, and that other media outlets and mobile network operators find ways of unconditionally promoting health awareness campaigns of national importance.
5. We also learnt the hard way that accepting whatever is posted on social media or said from pulpits without subjecting those pieces of information to cold, rational thought can result in drastic and unintended consequences. I am sure we will not be using salt in place of Dettol when disinfecting our bath water, but what if another equally ridiculous rumour surfaces in the coming weeks? How shall we respond?
6. In our fear of Ebola, we somehow finally seemed to realize that people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) may not be on a speed lane to their graves after all, and so need not be stigmatized. As the fear of Ebola wears off, let the tolerance and sympathy for PLWHA that we have begun to develop become an integral part of our lives.
7. It took just a Sawyer to infect 19 people and kill seven. As such, it is not yet over. As long as there remains even a single case of Ebola Virus Disease anywhere on earth, we are still all at risk. We should all still be vigilant.

May God bless all those families who lost loved ones to Ebola. 

May God bless all those who worked to protect us all from Ebola.

May God bless Nigeria.

- Naijaman