President Bola Tinubu has approved the creation of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats, alongside the immediate release of ₦10 billion to strengthen the country’s emergency response capacity.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said the intervention fund would boost the operational readiness of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical public health response activities.
According to Onanuga, the newly established task force will be chaired by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, and will comprise representatives from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as state governments.
The decision followed a high-level stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Chief of Staff to assess Nigeria’s preparedness and develop strategies to prevent the possible entry of Ebola into the country, following renewed outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
The meeting was attended by officials from the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Lagos State Government and other key agencies.
Tinubu also directed states with international airports and border entry points, together with relevant MDAs, to submit their preparedness plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for coordinated implementation.
As part of the preventive measures, the task force will intensify passenger screening at international airports through enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control procedures. It will also increase surveillance of passengers arriving on high-risk routes, including flights operated by Air Uganda, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.
The government further 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.
In addition, passengers travelling from or transiting through designated high-risk countries will be required to complete QR code-based pre-arrival health declarations. Airport departure halls, baggage handling areas, cargo facilities and other operational spaces will also undergo regular disinfection as precautionary measures.
The President also instructed the advisory group to engage security, diplomatic and aviation authorities on possible regulations for flights originating from affected countries. The task force was further mandated to consider designating specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights and adjusting flight schedules where necessary to minimise contact between high-risk passengers and other travellers.