At the moment, four African countries have and are experiencing the Ebola epidemic, and it's becoming a thing of high alert to the medical and health organizations of various other countries as the virus is spreading very fast across borders. According to the WHO, there have been 887 reported cases in the recent outbreak including the deaths of a Seria Leone doctor and a Liberian doctor. Due to its recent spread to the shores of Lagos, Nigeria, which has raised a world-wide concern, it raises a question as to if Nigeria might be able or not to survive if it eventually outbreaks within its boundaries. Here are 10 cogent reasons why Nigeria might not be able to survive the imminent Ebola outbreak:
1.NIGERIANS DON'T LIKE TO READ:
This is not the most important reason but has been made the first point because most Nigerians will hardly want to read this through. It has become a common phenomenon known to Nigerians as many Nigerians like to ignore reading long texts and write-ups. With this same attitude, many Nigerians will ignore reading any public messages sent by health organizations around the world, awaring and warning them about the severity of the Ebola virus, and also its preventive measures.
2. POOR STATE OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH SECTOR:
It's a very obvious fact that the state of the Nigeria medical and health sector is close to a 50, if not less, on a scale rating of 100. At the moment, the Nigeria Medical Association has been on strike for over two months now, leaving sickling and dying patients to writhe away on hospital beds. Also, according to 2003 National Demographic Health survey , Nigeria's immunisation coverage is put at 13% and that led to some of the reasons why some Nigeria children are dying everyday of preventable illness. Now, if Nigeria citizens could be dying everyday of easily preventable illnesses, how much more will they be affected by an Ebola strike whose cure is not even yet known at the moment.
3. NIGERIA'S POPULATION DENSITY:
It becomes a major element of concern considering the population density of Nigeria, coupled with the ease with which the Ebola virus can be transmitted from person to person. Population density is measured by the average of the number of contacts with susceptible individuals by each individual in the population during a fixed-length time period, and with Nigeria's dense population, there will be sufficient contact between people and the virus can easily be passed from an infected person to a susceptible person.
4. HIGH LEVEL OF ILLITERACY:
A vast proportion of the Nigeria population is made up of people with little or no education, who reside and go about their occupational and daily activities in their village settings. As surprising as it sounds, most of these people don't even get informed about the common diseases as common as cholera, typhoid fever, and the likes. The question here is, how will these people be able to survive an 'unknown' epidemic if it eventually breaks out in their abode?
5. NIGERIANS LOVE FOR BUSHMEAT/SUYA MEAT:
Research has it that bush/suya meat is one of the most common means of transmission of the Ebola virus across the borders of West Africa. Like the popular story of Ruth who said to Naomi in the Bible, "wherever you go, I'll go with you", such is the case of a typical Nigerian and bush/suya meat. Nigerians can eat this meat even in their sleep. So, asking a Nigerian to divorce his bush/suya meat is like asking him to starve for eternity.
6. INAPPROPRIATE GOVERNMENT PLANNING:
It sounds good to know that the Federal Government of Nigeria has set up Ebola screening centres at various airports across the country, but it isn't good enough a news because this action is rather coming at a late time. Since the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus, many countries across the world, and in Africa including Ghana, have made plans, and taken measures ahead of time to curb the spread of the virus to their territories. Imagine a case where the virus has almost spread across the country before this time, then the government's efforts would have been a case of medicine after death, and considering the rapid spread of the virus, a lot damage would have been done before a possible remedy.
7. IGNORANCE OF THE NIGERIA MASSES:
Ignorance, not awareness is a major problem with the Nigeria masses. Despite the level of information spread across the globe concerning the reported cases and fatalities caused by the Ebola virus, quite a number of people still don't see it as a threat. A lot of information on preventive measures against the virus has been given out since its outbreak, yet one can possibly count the number of people who observe these measures for their own safety.
8. THE NIGERIA MARKET SETTINGS:
Nigeria is a country known for its numerous commercial activities, ever-busy, overcrowded and rowdy markets. A lot of body contacts are unconsciously made between people from various homes, environments, on daily basis, from people who are health conscious and those who aren't. This is just the perfect scenario Mr. Ebola needs to breed his battalion of children.
9. UNHEALTHY ROADSIDE FOOD JOINTS:
Roadside food joints is the order of day when it comes to food business in Nigeria. Virtually every street in major cities across the country have food joints located along the road. Most of these joints observe little or no good hygiene measures. There's no argument in the fact that a greater number of Nigerians prefer these food joints to well-defined food joint settings that maintain proper hygiene. One spoon could be used by 10 people on the average, after a very quick wash and rinsing in not too clean waters. Ebola virus transfers better and faster in this kind of condition.
10. PREVALENCE OF CEREMONIAL GATHERINGS AND PARTIES:
Despite the rate of poverty in Nigeria, Nigerians always have good and ridiculous reasons for throwing parties, and it has become a culture. According to a recent news report, it was revealed by the Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola, that Lagosians fritter away a whopping sum of thirty-six billion naira on parties yearly. It is not uncommon to see large number of people in these parties, including people who gate-crash parties of people they know from nowhere. Foods and drinks are served and shared at theses parties. Majority of the attenders don't even know the source of the food, who cooked it, how it was cooked, and even the person serving it. Whether or not a virus is anywhere along the chain is not a concern to them, all they care is to get the food on their tables.
Other reasons like the transportation system, mode of greetings such as handshaking and hugging, information dissemination, health unconsciousness, water supply and drainage, could also be part of why the initial question of the subject matter came to mind. But one thing is this, in years past, Nigeria has been faced with different series of epidemics ranging from the LASSA fever, SARS, bird flu, and so on, and Nigeria has been able to survive the trying times. Whether or not Nigeria would be able to survive this time remains a question yet to be answeredt in the fact that a greater number of Nigerians.
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