By Victoria Ojeme

Immediate past President of Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Dr. Steven Oluwole, says Nigeria’s capacity to deal with Ebola is unquestionable amid new outbreak of the virus in Democratic Republic of Congo.  Oluwole also speaks on the release of the new batch of Chibok girls.

Dr. Steven Oluwole

Are you convinced Chibok girls were truly abducted by Boko Haram terrorists?

Reality is what matters, not speculations.  The girls were abducted without doubt.   Where they are kept is the question. We were informed that Boko Haram fighters have been routed out of Sambisa forest. Therefore, boarding 82 girls out of the forest in   buses raises more questions than provides answers! Are there houses or shelters in the forest unknown to the security forces, unknown to the intelligence agencies around the world that are assisting the government?

Do you see sincerity on the part of government ‘negotiating’ the release of the girls?

It is not savoury to   impugn motives. The government has negotiators that should be held accountable. The whole process   should be more transparent.   The expectation that all and sundry should show   unrestrained gratitude, euphoria, and wholesale acceptance of any outcome of negotiations is somewhat ad nauseum.  It is understandable that affected parents will rejoice to have their children back, but the government is answerable for its actions.

Do you think we can still have over a hundred of the girls to be released alive by the insurgents following their alleged marriage to people in the neighbouring countries and use as bombers?

It does not appear that Boko Haram is blood-thirsty for the girls, who serve other purposes than being bombed out of existence. It serves its purpose that a good number of the girls are now fighters, or have been converted, reconfigured, or brainwashed   to accept   its uncompromising monotheistic,   conquer and rule the whole world ideology.    Boko Haram has   not nuanced its objective to have the whole territory of Nigeria within its control. Some of the girls have adopted the ideology, but this appears at face value manifestation of Stockholm syndrome. They are now propaganda tools of their abductors, who claim to be treating them well in captivity.

How do you appraise the whole efforts of government of Nigeria in tackling the insurgents over the years?

The process is becoming interminable. Closure will bring relief to the affected families, all feeling Nigerians, and indeed the whole world. How long will it take to release all the girls at the current rate? Now that Boko Haram can exchange them for their incarcerated comrades and earn undisclosed amounts, there is no obvious incentives to release all of them in the short term.

On Ebola, do you think Nigeria has the capacity to prevent the outbreak of the disease in the country?

Capacity is unquestionable since the government, albeit a different one, showed sterling performance during a previous outbreak. If you recall there was little preparedness when the epidemic started in Guinea and Liberia. Rigorous contact tracing, and screening at the points of entry to the country and all airports effectively contained the spread. Under-performance should be distinguished from lack of capacity. Many of the personnel that screened subjects have never participated in any health program before let alone trained in medical sciences.

Decades ago mere outbreak of meningococcal meningitis in neighbouring countries initiated rigorous vaccination of school children in the most susceptible areas. But, the situation is very much different now. There were country-wide vaccination programmes for smallpox and cholera in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Malaria control programs   of the same era had dedicated staff that controlled breeding of mosquitoes. These historical public health relics demonstrate there is underutilization of capacity. The enormous resources wasted annually treating malaria, for example, can be reduced by effective vector control.