Ebola Outbreak : Obasanjo blasts Liberia over Sawyer

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Saturday, took a swipe at Liberian officials who, according to him, connived with Sawyer, who brought Ebola Virus to Nigeria.

Obasanjo spoke while answering questions from guests at an event organised by the publisher of Inside Watch Africa magazine, Oluwaseyi Adegoke-Adeyemo, tagged, ‘An afternoon with Obasanjo’, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.

According to him, this singular misadventure has started to take its toll on the manpower and the economy of not only Nigeria but the West Africa sub-region.

Obasanjo, however, disclosed that he had a meeting with the Ghanaian President, John Mahama, who’s also the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African Countries, some weeks ago, and discussed how to contain the spread of the deadly virus within the sub-region.

He further said that, during the meeting, Mahama wanted a meeting of ministers of health, but he suggested that there was a limit the ministers could go and that a summit of the presidents in the sub-region would be better.

He said, “It is devilish enough Patrick Sawyer had to spread this, and indeed spread it to Nigeria in connivance with some authorities from his country, because they knew he had it before he came to Nigeria.

“The EVD has started to take its toll on the country and the West African sub region. The toll is not only on the number of those who are ill or dead but on the economy of communities, countries, region and sub-region”.

The former president, while noting that EVD was not only a regional or sub-regional threat but a global one, called for a summit where a national policy on the disease would be formulated.

Obasanjo said, “Pharmaceutical companies in the country should be encouraged to carry out research on EVD and come up with vaccine to treat the deadly disease.

“Also, we have to be aggressive in taking precautionary measures. When you see your neighbour or someone who has unique symptoms not just of ordinary cold or fever, take him to the doctor, whether it is symptomatic of Ebola or ordinary malaria.

“We should not wait till someone has got incubated in it, just like Patrick Sawyer, who knew he had it and he deliberately spread it.”