…Says Opposition Party Preferred Disease To Continue
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lambasted the
APC for yet another failed attempt to discredit the PDP-led Federal
Government and relegate its efforts in the containment of the Ebola
Virus Disease in Nigeria.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Sunday
said the APC is frustrated and unhappy because Nigerians are happy
with the PDP-led Federal Government for “the speed and energy with
which it tackled the scourge and brought it under control.”
“We know that the APC prefers that the Ebola scourge continued
unabated in Nigeria so as to have what to blame the PDP-led government
for. Now that it has been contained, the APC is frustrated because the
people are happy with President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP-led
Federal Government for the proactive manner with which the disease was
confronted and overcame”, the party said.
The PDP insisted that the national success recorded on Ebola was
because President Goodluck Jonathan refused to politicize the issue
but took the bull by the horns through an aggressive multi-sectoral
approach for treatment, awareness and control to the admiration of all
Nigerians and the international community.
The ruling party observed that it was public knowledge that
immediately the disease surfaced in the country, the PDP-led Federal
Government swung into action and co-ordinated intervention efforts
with the Lagos State Government, Nigerian medical personnel and
international health organizations to bring it under control.
“The PDP makes bold to state that the multi-sectoral approach deployed
by the Federal Government with the concerted collaboration of the
Federal Ministries of Health, Aviation, Information, Education,
Transport and other relevant agencies such as the Nigerian Immigration
Service for intensive screening, quarantine and treatment efforts as
well as the massive awareness which ended the spread of the disease
and resulted in its containment in our country.
“We are also amused by the contradictions in the APC’s statement in
which it also commended the roles played by the Honorable Minister of
Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu in the containment effort. We ask,
is the minister not appointed and supervised by President Goodluck
Jonathan? Is he not of the PDP? Or is the APC now trying to
appropriate him?
“Apart from concerted collaborations using the Federal Ministry of
Health, it is on record that President Jonathan released N200 million
each to Lagos and Rivers States to help in fighting the disease,
including improvement of health facilities and public enlightenment
across board.
“At every point, the President recognized the efforts of all Nigerians
especially the medical personnel including the brave and courageous
Dr. Ameyo Stella Adedavoh and all the doctors and nurses who made
sacrifices in containing the virus. It is also on record that at no
time did the PDP or the President relegate the contributions of the
Lagos state government on Ebola.
“The President acknowledged the Nigerian Spirit which made the
citizens to put their religious, political and ethnic differences
aside in fighting this common enemy. This includes PDP national
officers who personally and collectively engaged in various activities
in containing the scourge including creating awareness through the
#EBOLAIceBucketChallenge and personal financial donations while the
APC was busy seeking political capital out of the unfortunate
situation.
“However, what the APC must understand is that Nigerians and indeed
the international community are happy with the President Goodluck
Jonathan-led PDP administration on the rapid response and eventual
containment of the Ebola Virus Disease, and no amount of propaganda
and blackmail will take this away”, the PDP said.
Calling on Nigerians to be very wary of the APC propaganda mill, the
PDP reminded how the opposition party attempted to gain political
capital out of the unfortunate abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls,
which happened because the APC state government refused to heed the
advice of the Federal Ministry of Education against using the Chibok
school as WAEC examination center. It said the success on Ebola was
because the Federal Government swung into action not allowing any room
for Nigerians to be misled by anybody.
The PDP therefore advised the APC “to learn to keep quiet if it has
nothing to offer and desist from always trying to divide Nigerians by
politicizing serious national issues for selfish and unpatriotic
reasons.”
“Finally, we must continue to give the credit of the Ebola victory to
the Nigerian spirit; the spirit that unites and bind us together
through all our challenges as a people. Indeed, if we overcame Ebola,
then we can overcome all our present challenges no matter how
insurmountable they may appear. We should therefore resist attempts to
divide us and weaken the Nigerian spirit, the spirit that makes us
different; the resilience that lies deep in our hearts, that reflects
in our faces and for which we are respected by the entire world”, the
PDP said.