President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats, alongside the immediate release of ₦10 billion to strengthen Nigeria’s emergency health response system.
The development was announced on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said the intervention fund would enhance the operational readiness of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and support critical national emergency response operations.
According to the presidency, the newly created task force will coordinate measures aimed at preventing the importation and spread of Ebola virus disease and other emerging public health threats into the country.
The task force will be chaired by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, and will include representatives from relevant ministries, departments and agencies, as well as state governments.
Onanuga explained that the president’s approval followed a high-level stakeholders’ meeting convened by Gbajabiamila to assess Nigeria’s preparedness amid renewed Ebola outbreaks in neighbouring African countries.
Recent reports of Ebola resurgence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda have raised fresh concerns across the region, prompting Nigerian authorities to intensify preventive measures at entry points.
Among agencies represented at the preparedness meeting were the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Lagos State Government.
As part of the new directives, Tinubu ordered all states with international airports and border corridors, alongside relevant federal agencies, to submit detailed preparedness plans, funding needs and intervention requests for coordinated implementation.
The presidency said the task force would immediately intensify passenger screening procedures at international airports through stricter temperature checks and crowd-control measures.
Authorities will also strengthen surveillance for passengers arriving through routes considered high-risk, including flights operated by Air Uganda, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.
In addition, referral and isolation centres are to be activated without delay at the international airports in Lagos and Abuja, with similar facilities expected to be extended to other airports nationwide.
The government also approved the mandatory use of QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration systems for travellers coming from or transiting through countries categorised as high-risk.
Other precautionary steps include the disinfection of departure halls, cargo terminals, baggage handling areas and other airport facilities to minimise environmental contamination risks.
Tinubu further instructed the advisory group to engage aviation, diplomatic and security institutions on possible regulations affecting flights from countries impacted by Ebola outbreaks.
The task force is also expected to designate specific terminals or airports for high-risk flights to allow more controlled screening, monitoring and isolation procedures, while considering adjustments to flight schedules to reduce interaction between high-risk passengers and other travellers.
