The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Sunday that the Ebola Virus disease was brought under control in the country in record time because President Goodluck Jonathan refused to politicise it.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, who stated this in a statement in Abuja, said President Jonathan took the bull by the horns.
According to him, the President did this
through an aggressive multi-sectoral approach for the treatment,
awareness and control of Ebola to the admiration of Nigerians and the
international community.
Metuh observed that it was public
knowledge that immediately the disease surfaced in the country, the
PDP-led Federal Government swung into action and co-ordinated
intervention efforts with the Lagos State Government.
This, he noted, was also extended to
Nigerian medical personnel and international health organisations with a
view to bringing the virus under control.
He further noted that the multi-sectoral
approach by the government in collaboration with relevant bodies and
the massive awareness resulted in the containment of the Ebola virus in
the country.
Metuh criticised the All Progressives
Congress (APC) for yet another failed attempt to discredit the PDP-led
federal government and relegate its efforts in the containment of the
Ebola Virus disease.
According to him, the APC was frustrated
and unhappy because Nigerians were happy with the PDP-led Federal
Government for the speed and energy with which it tackled the scourge.
“We know that the APC prefers that the
Ebola scourge continued unabated in Nigeria so as to have what to blame
the PDP-led government for.
“Now that it has been contained, the APC
is frustrated because the people are happy with President Jonathan and
the PDP-led Federal Government for the proactive manner with which the
disease was confronted and overcame.
“Apart from concerted collaborations
using the Federal Ministry of Health, it is on record that President
Jonathan released N200 million each to Lagos and Rivers States to help
in fighting the disease,’’ he said.
He said the President recognised the
efforts of all Nigerians, especially medical personnel including “the
brave and courageous Dr Ameyo Adedavoh’’, who made sacrifices in containing the virus.
He maintained that at no time did the PDP or the President relegate the contributions of the Lagos state government on Ebola.
“The President acknowledged the Nigerian
Spirit which made the citizens to put their religious, political and
ethnic differences aside in fighting this common enemy.
“This included PDP national officers who
personally and collectively engaged in various activities in containing
the scourge including creating awareness through the
#EBOLAIceBucketChallenge and personal financial donations,’’ he said.
Metuh added that no amount of propaganda and blackmail could take this away from the PDP.
He noted that while the PDP-led Federal
Government was making effort to contain the virus, the APC was busy
seeking political capital out of the unfortunate situation.
He called on Nigerians to be wary of the
APC propaganda mill, noting that the party had also attempted to gain
political capital out of the unfortunate abduction of the Chibok
schoolgirls.
The PDP scribe maintained that the
success on Ebola was because the government swung into action and did
not allow any room for Nigerians to be misled by anybody.
He, therefore, advised the APC “to
desist from always trying to divide Nigerians by politicizing serious
national issues for selfish and unpatriotic reasons”.
“We must continue to give the credit of
the Ebola victory to the Nigerian spirit; the spirit that unites and
binds us together through all our challenges as a people.
“Indeed, if we overcame Ebola, then we can overcome all our present challenges no matter how insurmountable they may appear.
“We should therefore resist attempts to
divide us and weaken the Nigerian spirit, the spirit that makes us
different, the resilience that lies deep in our hearts,’’ he said
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