October 5, 2014 – The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lambasted the APC for what it described as yet another failed attempt to discredit the PDP-led Federal Government and relegate its efforts in the containment of the Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Sunday said the APC is frustrated and unhappy because Nigerians are happy with the PDP-led Federal Government for “the speed and energy with which it tackled the scourge and brought it under control.”
“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 Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP-led Federal Government for the proactive manner with which the disease was confronted and overcame”, the party said.
The PDP insisted that the national success recorded on Ebola was because President Goodluck Jonathan refused to politicize the issue but took the bull by the horns through an aggressive multi-sectoral approach for treatment, awareness and control to the admiration of all Nigerians and the international community.
The ruling party 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, Nigerian medical personnel and international health organizations to bring it under control.
“The PDP makes bold to state that the multi-sectoral approach deployed by the Federal Government with the concerted collaboration of the Federal Ministries of Health, Aviation, Information, Education, Transport and other relevant agencies such as the Nigerian Immigration Service for intensive screening, quarantine and treatment efforts as well as the massive awareness which ended the spread of the disease and resulted in its containment in our country.
“We are also amused by the contradictions in the APC’s statement in which it also commended the roles played by the Honorable Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu in the containment effort. We ask, is the minister not appointed and supervised by President Goodluck Jonathan? Is he not of the PDP? Or is the APC now trying to appropriate him?
“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, including improvement of health facilities and public enlightenment across board.
“At every point, the President recognized the efforts of all Nigerians especially the medical personnel including the brave and courageous Dr. Ameyo Stella Adedavoh and all the doctors and nurses who made sacrifices in containing the virus. It is also on record 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 includes 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 while the APC was busy seeking political capital out of the unfortunate situation.
“However, what the APC must understand is that Nigerians and indeed the international community are happy with the President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration on the rapid response and eventual containment of the Ebola Virus Disease, and no amount of propaganda and blackmail will take this away”, the PDP said.
Calling on Nigerians to be very wary of the APC propaganda mill, the PDP reminded how the opposition party attempted to gain political capital out of the unfortunate abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, which happened because the APC state government refused to heed the advice of the Federal Ministry of Education against using the Chibok school as WAEC examination center. It said the success on Ebola was because the Federal Government swung into action not allowing any room for Nigerians to be misled by anybody.
The PDP therefore advised the APC “to learn to keep quiet if it has nothing to offer and desist from always trying to divide Nigerians by politicizing serious national issues for selfish and unpatriotic reasons.”
“Finally, we must continue to give the credit of the Ebola victory to the Nigerian spirit; the spirit that unites and bind 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, that reflects in our faces and for which we are respected by the entire world”, the PDP said.
