NCDC tok say ₦10bn Ebola fund dey cover Lassa, cholera and oda outbreaks too
- NCDC tok say di ₦10 billion wey President Tinubu approve na for plenty epidemic threats, no be Ebola alone.
- Director-General Dr Jide Idris tok say di agency need about ₦104.4 billion a year for im health security plan.
- Nigeria no get any active Ebola case, but dem dey watch contacts for 21 days, di agency tok.
Di Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) don tok say di ₦10 billion emergency fund wey President Bola Tinubu approve no be for Ebola alone, but for plenty oda disease threats wey dey face di country.
Di agency Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, make di clarification for one statement on Monday, afta public debate over di money. Dem approve di fund for June 2026, wen Ebola outbreak for Democratic Republic of Congo become global emergency, NCDC tok.
According to Idris, di money na to strengthen prevention, early detection and quick response to Ebola, Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, mpox and antimicrobial resistance. He tok say di request for di fund come before Nigeria confirm im own imported Ebola case.
He also tok say di ₦10 billion go directly to NCDC, no be to di Presidential Task Force on Ebola, wey di Chief of Staff to di President dey chair and dem set am up mainly to coordinate di national response.
Why di agency tok say ₦10bn no enough
Idris tok say di money no reach at all compared to wetin Nigeria need. Di country second National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS 2.0), wey go run from 2025 to 2029, dem estimate am to cost about ₦522 billion over five years, or average of ₦104.4 billion a year. Di ₦10 billion na about two per cent of dat yearly figure.
He cite di Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, wey estimate say countries need $1 to $2 per person each year for acceptable epidemic preparedness. For Nigeria population of about 240 million, dat come to between $240 million and $480 million a year.
"Di ₦10 billion allocation still no reach to meet Nigeria broader health security needs," Idris tok.
He trace di agency funding history: ₦4 billion in 2024, ₦7 billion in 2025 plus ₦5 billion intervention fund dat year, and ₦22 billion in di 2026 Appropriation, before di extra ₦10 billion in June.
No active Ebola case, but dem still dey watch contacts
On di outbreak itself, Idris tok say Nigeria no get any active Ebola case. Dem confirm di imported Bundibugyo Ebola case for di agency laboratory on October 20, within 24 hours of alert for Abuja.
Dem dey monitor all di contacts wey dem identify daily, and surveillance go continue until di last one complete di 21-day observation period without any new case. "We never comot from di woods," he tok.
He tok say di situation no justify to postpone elections, ban campaigns or mass gatherings, or restrict travel, and NCDC no recommend any of dis. Instead, di agency don issue guidelines for organisers of large events.
Idris urge Nigerians to check information through official NCDC channels before dem share am, warning say rumours and politicisation of public health emergencies fit weaken di response. He promise transparency for how dem dey use di fund.
Wetin go happen next: Contact monitoring go continue until di 21-day window close without any new case. NCDC tok say dem go keep publishing updates, and dem want federal and state governments and development partners to commit to steady funding.
