I felicitate with all Nigerians, especially our Muslim brothers and sisters on the auspicious occasion of this year's Eid-el-Fitri celebrations. I congratulate all of our countrymen and women who have successfully undertaken the purifying Ramadan fast.
As we celebrate Eid-el-Fitri, it is my hope and prayer that Ramadan's spiritual lessons and the Holy Prophet's teachings of piety, love,
justice, fairness, equity, peaceful co-existence with others, tolerance, honesty and dedication to duty will remain with us all for the benefit and greater glory of our dear
nation.
May the lessons and blessings of the Holy Month also permeate into us all, and positively influence our attitudes towards our fellow countrymen and women, irrespective of their religion or places of origin; and promote greater commitment to
the peace, unity and stability of the nation.
Although the observance of the Holy Month was sadly tainted in parts of the country with the continuing atrocities of extremists
and terrorists in our midst, I urge all patriotic Nigerians to remain strong and resolute in defence of freedom, unity, law and order, peace, security and progress of
the nation.
I feel the pains and anguish of all our compatriots who have experienced the harrowing impact of terrorism unleashed on them by brainwashed and misguided agents
of evil and disunity, but we must never throw up our hands in helplessness and despair as the terrorists and purveyors of anarchy
want.
Going forward, let us all remain
unwaveringly committed to showing
solidarity with our Armed Forces and security agencies and giving them the full support they require to prosecute the war against terrorism to a successful conclusion.
I assure all Nigerians, once again, that we are totally committed to winning that war, putting the scourge of terrorism and insecurity rapidly behind us and giving the fullest possible attention to the urgent task of improving the living conditions of our people in all parts of the country.
We cannot and will not be deterred from our goal of positively transforming our nation into a strong, united, progressive, stable,
secure and prosperous nation in which all citizens will live in peace in spite of our immense diversities.
May Almighty Allah continue to bless our nation and all who have successfully undertaken this year's Ramadan Fast.
I wish you all happy and peaceful Eid-el-Fitri celebrations.
GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
*Also wishing my muslim brothers and sisters a happy Eid-el-Fitri celebration*
WHO said this in a tweet from its African regional office.
"The national authority in Nigeria is working closely with the WHO and partners to ensure that this incident case is contained at the
source," it said in another statement.
In its latest update on the Ebola virus, the body also said 96 new cases and seven deaths were reported from Liberia and Sierra Leone between July 21 and 23.
Sawyer, who reportedly worked with the finance ministry in Liberia, became the first case of Ebola to be confirmed in Nigeria since its
outbreak in other parts of West Africa – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Sawyer had arrived in Lagos on July 20 via the Murtala Mohammed International Airport. He died later after he was admitted to a private
hospital in the state. Officials of the Lagos State ministry of health said he had been put under close surveillance.
Meanwhile, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has said it has taken various steps to secure the nation's airports from the deadly Ebola virus. According to FAAN, the rising cases of Ebola in West Africa has become a source of concern to the authority and to this end, international airports have been placed on red-alert.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent on Saturday, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, stated that screening centres had already been set up especially at the international airports to screen every incoming passenger, especially those from countries where the virus had been recorded.
He added that airlines operating both domestic and international flights had also been alerted to be on their guard as regards the virus.
He said, "We have set up screening centres around our airport to ensure that every passenger that comes in is thoroughly screened.
Also for the first time, we have asked airlines to be involved in this screening process. We are also insisting that passengers from countries where yellow fever documents are required present this on entry into the country.
"FAAN on its part will also screen all the manifest of all the airlines and we are in the process of setting up a 'holding area' at the airport such that if we detect any suspected case, such a person would be isolated there."
Also, the Public Relations Officer, the Nigerian Immigration Service, Emeka Obua, said NIS personnel at the airports, seaports and land borders had been issued an advisory by the Ministry of Health, to watch out for anyone coming into the country with symptoms of the Ebola disease.
He further said that the NIS personnel had been cautioned to wear hand gloves and limit their contacts with people coming into the country.
They are also working closely with Port Health officials who know exactly the symptoms to look out for in people. Anyone who is suspected of having the disease would be quarantined and taken to the hospital for evaluation; we are not taking any chances."
Meanwhile, experts have also called on Nigeria's health authorities to establish effective disease surveillance around the country borders to prevent any infection in the populace.
In an interview with our correspondent on Saturday, a veterinarian virologist and President
of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, said an effective disease surveillance system at the country's airports and borders was necessary to prevent such incidents in the future.
He said, "The case (of the Liberian) we found was by chance and not by preparedness. If the man had not been sick on arrival in Lagos, he
could have gone to Calabar, which was his destination. And if he had fallen sick in Calabar, I'm not sure people would have detected the exact cause of his illness, and that would have created more problems."
Although he commended the Federal Government for acting decisive when the case was discovered, Tomori called on the health authorities to be more proactive than to wait for chance or luck to detect an infected person.
"The country's disease surveillance system must be up and doing. We cannot wait for chance or luck to detect, especially when it is known that many Nigerians travel to and from these affected countries. So, we should have set in place in motion these measures. We must put every effort to ensure that detect them as soon as possible."
In the same vein, the Director of the World Bank funded African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases at Redeemers University, Mowe, Ogun State, Prof. Christian Happi, noted that the correct diagnosis of the
Ebola virus on the Liberian was successfully carried out in the laboratories at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and ACEGID.
"The good news is that we have the capability to diagnose it. Our result was corroborated by WHO Collaborating Centre in Dakar, Senegal," he told one of our correspondents.
Ebola, which is said to have a fatality rate of up to 90 per cent, currently has no specific treatment, but experts say some patients will
recover with appropriate medical care.
The symptoms of Ebola include sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, vomiting, sore throat, headache and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.
