Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
blasted at Liberian officials who he said
connived with Patrick Sawyer, who brought
Ebola Virus to Nigeria.
According to the former president, this singular
misadventure has started to take its toll on the
manpower and the economy of not only Nigeria
but the West Africa sub-region.
Obasanjo spoke while answering questions from
guests at an event organised by the publisher of
Inside Watch Africa magazine, Oluwaseyi
Adegoke-Adeyemo, tagged, ‘An afternoon with
Obasanjo’, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo
Presidential Library, Abeokuta, according to
reports from Vanguard.
Obasanjo , however, disclosed that he had a
meeting with the Ghanaian President, John
Mahama , who’s also the Chairman of the
Economic Community of West African Countries,
some weeks ago, and discussed how to contain
the spread of the deadly virus within the sub-
region.
He further said that, during the meeting,
Mahama wanted a meeting of ministers of
health, but he suggested that there was a limit
the ministers could go and that a summit of the
presidents in the sub-region would be better.
He said, “It is devilish enough Patrick
Sawyer had to spread this, and indeed
spread it to Nigeria in connivance with some
authorities from his country, because they
knew he had it before he came to Nigeria.
“The EVD has started to take its toll on the
country and the West African sub region. The
toll is not only on the number of those who are
ill or dead but on the economy of communities,
countries, region and sub-region”.
The former president, while noting that EVD
was not only a regional or sub-regional threat
but a global one, called for a summit where a
national policy on the disease would be
formulated.
Obasanjo said, “Pharmaceutical companies in the
country should be encouraged to carry out
research on EVD and come up with vaccine to
treat the deadly disease.
“Also, we have to be aggressive in taking
precautionary measures.
When you see your neighbour or someone who
has unique symptoms not just of ordinary cold
or fever, take him to the doctor, whether it is
symptomatic of Ebola or ordinary malaria.
“We should not wait till someone has got
incubated in it, just like Patrick Sawyer, who
knew he had it and he deliberately spread it.”