Editorial
Enhancing Prevention Of Epidemics
Devastated by COVID-19, humanity has discovered the hard way how to prepare for epidemics. To make everyone ready for future outbreaks and sensitise people about epidemics on all levels, the United Nations and the World Health Organisation set aside December 27 annually as the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness.
The day was first observed last December 27, 2020, when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) had emphasised the need to advocate the importance of preparedness, prevention, and partnership against epidemics. The UN says it is necessary to learn lessons about managing epidemics and apply them to reinforce prevention and have the most sufficient response for any future catastrophe.
Solidarity and coalition among all international organisations, every community and individual, to combat an epidemic like COVID-19 is crucial. Marking the day, the UNGA had asked all its member-states to employ awareness-raising campaigns and education to exchange information, scientific knowledge along with best practices to help step up the preparedness for epidemics.
In a statement to mark the day, WHO stated the need of the hour was to invest in systems that could help detect, prevent and respond to outbreaks having the ability to disrupt health systems, supply chains and livelihood of, especially the poorest countries. It is also intended to popularise the One Health approach, which promotes the integration of plant health, human health and animal health with other relevant sectors.
According to AntónioGuterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, COVID-19 had enabled us to rejuvenate sustainable and more equal work. He added that the reaction to the widespread discontent that preceded the pandemic must rest on a new global agreement and social contract. This is a means of creating equal chances for all while respecting rights and freedoms.
WHO should work closely with governments to bolster efforts to build strong emergency and epidemic preparedness systems, as part of an overall approach to advance universal health coverage and strengthen primary health care systems. Resilient and robust health systems are necessary to reach the vulnerable.
As demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic, major infectious diseases and spurts have devastating effects on human life, shattering long-term social and economic development. Global health crises threaten to dominate already overburdened health systems, disrupt global supply chains and cause disproportionate devastation to the livelihoods of populations and economies of weak countries.
Without international attention, future epidemics could outpace previous ones in terms of intensity and severity. Hence, there is a strong need for programmes to raise awareness and advocate on epidemics at the local, national, regional and global levels as effective measures to prevent and respond to them.
International cooperation and multilateralism play an important role in responding to pandemics. We have to emphasise the importance of partnership and solidarity among individuals, communities, countries, regions and global organisations at all stages of epidemic management, and the implication of considering gender perspectives in this regard.
Consistent with worldwide efforts to prepare for epidemics, Nigeria has taken critical steps to enhance its preparedness for future outbursts. In 2011, the Federal Government established the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to oversee epidemic preparedness and, in 2017, participated in an evaluation of the country’s readiness with support from WHO, which led to the creation of a national action plan for health security.
Federal, state and local authorities should increase public and political support for further investment in epidemic preparedness. This must be taken as a national priority, recognising Nigeria’s exposure to a variety of imported and endemic diseases given the country’s massive population and role as a trade and travel hub. Civil society groups have to raise awareness and mobilise the public to support political leadership.
Media campaigns about the primacy of an investment in preparing for outbreaks are imperative. Likewise, media events, radio segments and video messages from respected religious and community leaders can also help increase awareness and support. Online hashtag engagements may be one of the most valuable conversations on social media about preventing epidemics. This must be complemented by strict adherence to all COVID-19 rules.
It was recently revealed that funding for NCDC did not always reach the agency and that state health financing was often left to lapse. That is not good enough. It is a weak indication that we are reluctant to deal with the latest wave of COVID-19 (Omicron) and future outbreaks. To promote transparency, accountability, and sustainability of investments in preparedness, the government should develop a Health Security Financing Accountability Framework.
The framework can be utilised to track budget allocations, expenditures and outcomes at the federal, state and local levels and to identify spending barriers and inform promotional activities. Stakeholders should work with policymakers to disaggregate spending data, if necessary, to track releases to different levels of government.
There are moments in the life of a legislature when plain speaking becomes a public service. Senator Adams Oshiomhole provided such a moment on the floor of the Senate when he accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of manifestly neglecting critical federal arteries in Edo and Delta States, and implored his colleagues to prevail on the Minister to adopt a more equitable and genuinely national approach to road infrastructure delivery. It was blunt, it was uncomfortable, and it was necessary.
The specifics of his complaint deserve restating. Drawing attention to the recent approval of some 20 new road projects despite the parlous state of existing ones, the former Edo State governor lamented that Nigerians cannot travel from Benin to Warri, Benin to Asaba, Benin to Auchi, or Auchi to Okene without encountering severe distress. He alleged a deliberate omission of these corridors from the national budget in the last three years, save for palliative interventions directed by President Bola Tinubu through tax credit arrangements. His question — “What have we done wrong?” — resonates far beyond the chambers of the National Assembly.
We lend our full and unequivocal support to that call. The Auchi-Benin Road, for instance, has been in a deplorable and near-impassable condition for several years, turning what should be a two-hour journey into an all-day ordeal of broken axles, extortionate fares, and despondent commuters. The media have, on multiple occasions, chronicled the suffering of motorists, traders, and students who ply that route. To describe it as a federal road today is to stretch the meaning of the term beyond recognition.
This pattern of sidelining is not confined to Edo or Delta. Even here in Rivers State, the disposition of the Federal Ministry of Works has left much to be desired, particularly along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road. That road, which ought to be a flagship of federal presence in the Niger Delta, has remained in a wretched state for long. Those who use it daily — workers at the Eleme Petrochemical Complex, the two refineries, Onne Port, and the countless ancillary industries — can attest to its deterioration. Work has proceeded in fits and starts without the sustained urgency such a strategic road demands.
The Eleme stretch is not a mere intra-state byway. It is the gateway to the nation’s economic jugular. According to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2023 Highway Condition Survey, only about 35 per cent of the country’s 36,000 kilometres of federal roads are rated as being in good or fair condition, with the remainder classified as poor or very poor. The East-West Road, conceived in the 1970s to bind the entire Niger Delta, remains unfinished in critical sections more than four decades after. If it had been treated as a priority, the perennial gridlock, carnage, and economic loss on the Eleme-Refinery junction would have long been consigned to history.
The irony is as painful as it is glaring. The Niger Delta remains the goose that lays the golden eggs. Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [NEITI 2023 Oil and Gas Audit] show that the region still accounts for over 78 per cent of Nigeria’s federally collected export earnings and about 65 per cent of total government revenue. The National Bureau of Statistics [NBS Foreign Trade Report Q4 2024] similarly confirms that crude oil continues to dominate export receipts. By every metric of equity and economic logic, a region that sustains the national purse deserves first-rate consideration in the allocation of infrastructure, not afterthoughts and tokenism.
Road infrastructure is not largesse to be dispensed by favour; it is the skeleton upon which commerce, cohesion, and citizenship hang. When contracts are concentrated in one geopolitical zone while other zones are left to contend with craters, it erodes trust in the federation itself. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update [June 2023] estimated that poor transport connectivity inflates the cost of moving goods by up to 40 per cent and costs the Nigerian economy an estimated $1.5 billion annually in lost man-hours and vehicle maintenance. If we profess to be one country, then equity must be the compass that guides key institutions before any project is executed. Development must spread round, not pool in one place as though other regions do not matter.
There is also a grave security dimension that can no longer be ignored. The deplorable condition of federal roads has become a veritable enabler of criminality. The NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey reported over 2.5 million incidents of kidnapping-related occurrences nationally, with transport workers identifying bad road spots as prime ambush points. When vehicles are forced to crawl at 10 kilometres per hour through failed sections at Auchi, Sapele Road, or Eleme, they become sitting ducks for armed gangs. Fixing bad roads, therefore, is not merely about convenience; it is about safeguarding lives.
By his intervention, Senator Oshiomhole has hit the nail on the head and reminded Minister Umahi of a fundamental constitutional truth: public office is held in trust. The Ministry of Works is not a personal estate where contracts are awarded according to whim or political convenience. It is a national institution funded by the collective resources of Nigerians, including the oil and gas rents from the very communities whose roads are now neglected. The Minister must demonstrate balance, transparency, and a pan-Nigerian outlook in the distribution of projects that impact the daily existence of citizens. Selective neglect breeds suspicion, and suspicion is corrosive at a time when the nation is preaching unity, oneness, equity, and justice.
Consequently, the National Assembly must go beyond rhetoric and assert its oversight powers with vigour. Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended] empower the legislature to investigate and expose any maladministration in the execution of federal projects. If an office holder is not acting rightly, it is the duty of the Senate and the House of Representatives to call him to order. Oversight must not be reduced to budget approval ceremonies; it must translate to field verification, public hearings, and insistence that the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution, reflects in road awards.
Let the Auchi-Okene, Benin-Warri, Benin-Asaba, and Eleme East-West gangways be restored to motorable dignity. Let priority be given to completing existing, economically vital roads before embarking on new ones. If those who, through their resources, sustain the federation are sidelined in the distribution of tangible dividends, it tells poorly of our nationhood. Bad roads must be fixed, and they must be fixed now, with fairness as the guiding standard.
