The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Sawyer

  • Harbinger of death

    Where is the Sawyer?

    Call him back not to die

    Let his death come after this war Sawyer,

    come wage a true war

    Fight the Boko Haram with your talent

    Your urine was poisonous

    So was your sputum

    Your venom was not found in

     

    Your teeth

    Your buca cavity was a container

    That offloaded a pint of Ebola

    Come back Sawyer and berth

    In our lush forest of Sambisa

    Where figs are armoured tanks

    Dreaded by our decorated combatants of war

     

    Come back Sawyer

    Fight a gallant war

    Waged against us by your incarnates

    Sawyerfind your ilk in Sambisa

    With your buca cavity the war is won

    Slither your way into Sambisa

    Kiss the dreaded forest

    With your 21 days agonising silencer

    BUT Skip out our girls

    Your spurting venom travels in lightning speed

    From Liberia to Nigeria

    A haven surfeit of scourge

  • Ebola: It’s devilish of Sawyer, Liberia to spread the evil to us – Obasanjo

    Ebola: It’s devilish of Sawyer, Liberia to spread the evil to us – Obasanjo

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Saturday afternoon, rued the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease(EVD) in Nigeria, saying it is “devilish enough that Patrick Sawyer in connivance with some Liberian authorities,” brought the evil into the country.
    Obasanjo lamented that EVD is already taking its toll not only in the areas of deaths recorded or those that are ill, but also economically.
    ” Ebola is taking economic toll. How do we handle people that are economically affected not those that are dead or ill. The economic effect has started, how do we reduce, recoup the economic cost of ebola on communities, nation, West African region and sub-region.”
    The former President who spoke while fielding questions from guests during ‘An afternoon with Obasanjo’ a programme organised by Inside Watch Africa, a continental magazine published by Oluwaseyi Adegoke – Adeyemo, said some Liberian authorities knew of the contagious and deadly illness in Sawyer and allowed the visit.
    At the event held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library(OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, he urged Nigerians to be “very aggressive with precautionary measures” against ebola as there is no curative drugs yet for it.
    Obasanjo said: “when HIV came, they said don’t talk about it. Now it is ebola and ebola is even talking about HIV. We should be doing whatever we can and that is being aggreesive in taking precautionary measures to prevent it.
    “Everybody should be involved. When you see your neighbour showing unique symptoms not just the common cold or fever, take him to the clinic or doctor and we are told that when it has incubated, it becomes a problem.
    Obasanjo who disclosed that he had spoken with Presidents of Liberia, Ghana and Sierra – Leone on the Ebola issue, said there is need for Nigeria and other West African countries to talk to development partners such World Health Organisation (WHO), European Union(EU), and America for help to curtail EVD.
    Obasanjo charged the world not to see ebola disease as a burden of the West African countries but something that should be treated as an “international burden.”
    He called on the world’s pharmaceutical giants to intensify research efforts towards providing either vaccine or curative drugs for the virus.

  • Ebola: ‘Several could have made contact with Sawyer’

    Ebola: ‘Several could have made contact with Sawyer’

    How many people had contact with the late Patrick Sawyer at the time he arrived the country?

    This was the question on the lips of Nigerians on Thursday when the Minister of Health, Prof. onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed that several people could have made contact with the deceased.

    Besides, he said those that attended to him within the first two days were not protected.

    Although, there is no new case yet, the World Health Organisation has said that more than 900 people have died so far with 1,700 infected.

    Onyebuchi said between the aircraft and the hospital, the number of those that had contact with the Liberian is still unknown.

    The minister also sounded a note of warning that the situation has assumed a global emergency as everyone is at risk.

    He said, “Indeed, this is coming from a Liberian citizen who is also an American agency worker. The family said he resides in America and he was expected to return to America for the celebration of his baby.

    ‘This tells us that if only the incubation period shifted a little bit, he would have come here, attend the ECOWAS meeting in Calabar and would have returned to United States and probably it would have started manifesting in the U.S. So, this means the whole world is in danger.

    “The two statements I want to make and if that is the only thing you will remember today, that will be sufficient for me; firstly, indeed, we have an emergency in our hands. For me, it is a national emergency but for all of us, it is a global emergency. Secondly, everyone is at risk, every nation is at risk and every individual is at risk.”

     

  • ‘Sawyer disregarded directives not to travel out of Liberia’

    ‘Sawyer disregarded directives not to travel out of Liberia’

    Health Minister Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said yesterday that Liberian-Amerian Patrick Sawyer, who died in Lagos of Ebola Virus, was aware of his status before entering Nigeria.

    Chukwu described the outbreak of Ebola in Nigeria as a “national emergency”.

    He said the Federal government had placed restrictions on repatriation into the country of bodies of Nigerians abroad.

    The Minister told members of the House of Representatives Committee on Health and other stakeholders at a public hearing on Ebola virus that Sawyer disregarded instructions of Liberian health officials not to travel out of the country. But he did not elaborate on how he was able to travel through Lome to Lagos ostensibly to attend a conference in Calabar, Cross River State.

    Chukwu said a report credited to former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Maurice Iwu about the efficacy of bitter Kola in fighting the disease was “premature” and “incorrect”.

    “No evidence shows that bitter kola will prevent or cure Ebola. Iwu’s experiment was inconclusive,” he said.

    Project Director, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, said 70 Nigerians were under surveillance for the disease.

    According to him, of the 70 primary and secondary patients Sawyer had  contact with, 39 were hospital contacts; 22 were airport contacts.

    Those in contact with and who attended to Sawyer, according to Nasidi, include men of the State Security Service (SSS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), medical and airport support personnel.

    Director, Port Health Services, Dr. Sani Gwarzo added that as part of efforts aimed at containing the outbreak of the virus, 66 personnel were required by the Federal  Ministry of Health to man and screen travellers at travel entry points.

    Chairman, House Committee on Health, Ndudi Elumelu, said the meeting was  convened to find out measures being put in place to curb the spread of the disease and to know the actual number of Nigerians affected.

    “Ebola is what most Nigerians are currently worried about; measures must be taken to protect people,” he said.

    Also speaking at the State House in Abuja, Chukwu said the Federal Government had requested for the experimental drug, Zmapp, being used in the treatment of the Ebola virus by the United States Centre for Disease Control.

    He spoke at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

    The minister said those using the drug seem to be responding to treatment.

    On efforts to contain the disease, he said the government would by isolation tents, which costs about N20 million apiece.

    According to the plan, state governments will partner with the Federal Government to procure at least one per state. Lagos will have more because of its population.

    The challenges being faced, he said, include location of the isolation tents as occupants of such areas always protest and sometimes become violent while opposing the citing of the tents around their homes.

    Nigeria has now recorded seven cases of the Ebola virus, with the first index case being from Liberia.

    Chukwu said: “We have a national emergency; indeed the world is at risk. Nobody is immune. The experience in Nigeria has alerted the world that  it takes just one individual to travel by air to a place to begin an outbreak.

    “It is an emergency and, secondly, everyone is at risk. We have recorded seven confirmed cases, that were in contact with the first imported case from Liberia. Yesterday 5th August 2014, the first known Nigerian to die of the EVD was recorded and this was one of the nurses that attended to the Liberian. The other five cases are being treated at the isolation ward in Lagos.”

    For fear of stigmatisation, he said, the names of confirmed cases would not be made public yet.

    “That is why we are protecting the identity of those affected. Stigmatisation will not solve the problem; it is maintaining good personal hygiene that can solve it,” he said

    Chukwu said: “The general public does not need hand gloves. Health personnel are the most vulnerable and they change the gloves regularly and do not take them home. Also those at immigration points are advised to wear gloves and to change regularly. The Ebola organism is weak outside the body, so frequent washing of hands and using hand sanitiser is advisable. Don’t try to form your own liquid.”

    He also advised families of affected persons not to share bedsheets, pillow cases and towels, as they stand a great risk of contracting the virus through bodily fluid.

    Stressing that the disease is contagious and infectious, the minister said:  “If you are close to affected person you can contact via sneezing, coughing as they pass out droplets.

    “The constitution provides that government has the right to quarantine anybody suspected to have Ebola in the interest of public health”.