President Goodluck Jonathan said Monday in Abuja that he hopes that Nigerians will no longer suffer discriminatory checks and stigmatization abroad now that the World Health Organisation has certified the country to be Ebola-free.
An official statement said he made the remark when he received the Foreign Ministers of Germany and France at the Presidential Villa on Monday, and that he restated his government’s displeasure over the stigmatization by some countries after the Ebola virus entered Nigeria in July through a Liberian traveller.
He told his guests there was no justifiable basis for the stigmatization of Nigerians since the virus was rapidly contained in the country and never attained epidemic levels.
“He told the French Foreign Minister, Mr. Laurent Fabius and the German Foreign Minister, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier that Nigeria will remain fully vigilant to prevent the re-entry of the virus because the Federal Government recognizes that the country will remain at risk as long as Ebola is active in other West African countries or any other part of the world.”
He also assured them and other concerned nations of Nigeria’s full cooperation to stop the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa as quickly as possible.
The Ministers told the President that they were in Nigeria to seek further cooperation with the Federal Government in the growing global effort to contain the current outbreak and continuing spread of Ebola.
“They praised Nigeria’s successful containment of the virus and expressed the desire of France, Germany and the European Union to collaborate more with Nigeria in helping other West African countries where the virus still remains active.”
