By Iyemah David
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said fragmented responses to health emergencies put lives at risk.
The centre called for unity, coordination and sustained preparedness to strengthen the country’s health security.
The warning followed the recent suspected Ebola case in Abuja, which turned out to be negative for both Ebola and Marburg.
The NCDC said while it was a false alarm, the incident served as a stress test that exposed gaps in Nigeria’s epidemic response system.
Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, spoke during a High-Level National Technical Review Meeting on the suspected Ebola case, convened to evaluate how the country handled the alert and what improvements must be made.
“False alarms are not failures; they are opportunities to strengthen systems. We must ensure that lessons from this response translate into sustained vigilance, stronger coordination and better preparedness across all levels,” Idris said.
He said that the review focused on assessing response actions at national and subnational levels.
According to him, the idea is to identify gaps in surveillance, laboratories, infection prevention and control (IPC), points of entry, coordination, and risk communication, and agree on corrective measures.
The director-general said that one of the biggest takeaways from the suspected Ebola response was the need to strengthen protocols and teamwork across all levels of the health system.
“We need to build on our capacity. That is the essence of this exercise. Protocols are critical. They must be updated regularly, understood by all, and applied correctly.
“If one step is done wrongly, it can put health workers and communities at risk,” he said.
He cited experiences from isolation procedures, warning that improper use or removal of protective gear could expose health workers to danger.
“We must work as a team. If one sector lacks resources or knowledge, others must step in.
“Both the public and private sectors have roles to play, because at the end of the day, citizens seek care in both,” he said.
Reflecting further on the incident, Idris described the suspected case as a test of Nigeria’s response system.
“Like somebody said, that was a test for us, a test of our response. And the bottom line is that we need to do better.
“When we talk about doing better, it should not be about blame. Instead, we must identify gaps and fill them to improve efficiency,”he said.
He encouraged stakeholders to challenge NCDC and government agencies constructively.
“I will accept your challenges if they make sense to me. Nobody has all the answers, so we all have to work together.”
Sharing his personal experience of the tense hours surrounding the suspected Ebola case, Idris said that he had coordinated the response, weighing every decision carefully.
“God always has a plan for us. I had two sets of responses ready, and in between, I fielded several urgent questions.
“In such moments, it is better to delay a public announcement than to create panic.
At that time, we were not in chaos, and the lab results helped us avoid that,’ ‘ he said.
He also said that beyond patient safety, outbreak responses raise broader issues about hospital operations, confidentiality, and the trust of the public.
He said that the country continued to battle Lassa fever, which remains endemic, while also preparing for potential incursions of Ebola and Marburg.
The NCDC boss said that outbreak preparedness could not be treated as a one-off event.
“Ebola, Lassa fever, or any other viral haemorrhagic fever has lessons. Our job is to ensure that protocols are followed, teamwork is sustained, and standards are continuously improved,” he said.
He highlighted the need to develop stronger and more practical protocols at both national and subnational levels.
According to him, while the Federal Government may have resources, most states still lag behind in readiness.
He urged states to build on existing platforms, learn from experiences and strengthen their own health security systems.
“Preparedness should not be about chaos or blame, but about procedure, teamwork and adherence to standards that protect the nation in times of health emergencies.”
The NCDC boss further stressed the importance of adopting a One Health approach, drawing lessons from global experiences to better anticipate cross-border and water-related health threats.
Drawing from past experiences during the Ebola outbreak in Lagos and the COVID-19 pandemic, he recalled how fragile systems were exposed when other health services shut down, from routine vaccinations to veterinary care.
He said that the lessons were simple but critical.
“Ebola does not spread without contact. Once you understand the mode of transmission, you can plan,” he said.
He recounted how Lagos State managed the Ebola response by repurposing facilities and building an isolation ward with proper waste management systems.
He said that the state also coordinated with partners like Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to ensure that cases were managed effectively.
“We were lucky to get that facility used for Ebola, and it saved us. But the truth is, most of the cases then came from outside Lagos, and it was a test of our emergency systems. We cannot always rely on luck,” he said.
Speaking at the emergency preparedness meeting, participants said that outbreaks such as Ebola and Lassa fever required seamless collaboration across all levels of the health system.
They cautioned that if one part of the response chain failed, whether in detection, referral, or treatment, patients are endangered and containment efforts are weakened.
The participants said that the same thing happening with rats and Lassa fever is what we see with other epidemics.
They said that beyond Ebola, Nigeria faced persistent threats from diseases like Lassa fever, which remain endemic and continue to strain the country’s health system.
According to them, effective response depends on collective action, strict adherence to protocols, and an understanding of roles at every stage of patient care.
The stakeholders said that protocols alone were not enough unless backed by cooperation, discipline and accountability.
