This is one crazy country. I checked the online news before going out this evening and was delighted to read that 'Nigeria announces containment of Ebola, 2 more discharged, last patient stable'. Then when I was out at supper, my friend received a phone call to say that the government had just announced on TV that all primary and secondary schools in Nigeria are to remain closed until October 13th. October 13th! That's almost 7 weeks away! Alex is already climbing the walls after being back in Abuja for a week and I am desperate for school to start - the new academic year is due to commence next Monday. (And before I say any more, I recognise the contradictory nature of my position as before the summer break I was literally counting the hours until the end of term when I could take Alex out of school and stop worrying about the possibility of getting caught up in a Boko Haram attack. And now I am aghast that schools are not being allowed to open. Just shows what this place does to you).
What has incensed me is the utterly irrational behaviour of the government. On the same day that the Minister of Health annnounces that Ebola is basically under control, the Minister of Education declares that all schools will remain closed until 13th October. And this is all schools. Not just schools in Lagos, the only city in which there have been cases of the virus, but all schools in Nigeria. It is totally bonkers. The official statement said that the reason for the closure was 'to ensure the safety and well-being of all students in our schools throughout the Federation' and to allow time for two teachers in every public and private school in the country to be 'trained by appropriate health workers on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola and embark on immediate sensitization of all Teaching and non-Teaching Staff in all schools on preventive measures'.
So, having decided that the Nigerian government was actually handling this whole Ebola outbreak quite sensitively and sensibly, I have now revised my opinion somewhat. One sure way to create panic within a population is to close all the schools. And the edict makes no sense. Ebola is very hard to catch - you have to have contact with bodily fluids of an infected person and an Ebola sufferer is actually only contagious when they develop the symptoms (which are hardly difficult to spot, even by untrained staff; I imagine a child suffering from severe fever, intense weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding from the eyes might catch the attention of even the most unobservant teacher). The incubation period is from 2 to 21 days, but people are not contagious during this time. There is absolutely no reason why schools need to close. Imagine the inconvenience for millions of parents. And if schools, then why not universities, or cinemas or hospitals? I honestly don't know why I'm surprised; given that the federal government's security strategy for the World Economic Forum in May involved ordering a complete shutdown of Abuja for three days, this news should hardly come as a shock. And taken in the context of a dysfunctional education system where universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Educations regularly shut down for months on end due to strike action, a mere delay of 7 weeks to the start of term is small beer. (The Colleges of Education returned to class in late July after a 7 month strike; the polytechnics returned on 14 July having been on strike - for 10 months - since October 3rd. And this was hot on the heels of a dispute at the public universities, where staff were on strike for 6 months during the second half of 2013). So despite the frustrations of the school closure, we should spare a thought for a Nigerian student trying to pursue a tertiary education course here (not to mention a harassed mother of two small children trying to work on a research project within the Nigerian higher education sector).
What has incensed me is the utterly irrational behaviour of the government. On the same day that the Minister of Health annnounces that Ebola is basically under control, the Minister of Education declares that all schools will remain closed until 13th October. And this is all schools. Not just schools in Lagos, the only city in which there have been cases of the virus, but all schools in Nigeria. It is totally bonkers. The official statement said that the reason for the closure was 'to ensure the safety and well-being of all students in our schools throughout the Federation' and to allow time for two teachers in every public and private school in the country to be 'trained by appropriate health workers on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola and embark on immediate sensitization of all Teaching and non-Teaching Staff in all schools on preventive measures'.
So, having decided that the Nigerian government was actually handling this whole Ebola outbreak quite sensitively and sensibly, I have now revised my opinion somewhat. One sure way to create panic within a population is to close all the schools. And the edict makes no sense. Ebola is very hard to catch - you have to have contact with bodily fluids of an infected person and an Ebola sufferer is actually only contagious when they develop the symptoms (which are hardly difficult to spot, even by untrained staff; I imagine a child suffering from severe fever, intense weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding from the eyes might catch the attention of even the most unobservant teacher). The incubation period is from 2 to 21 days, but people are not contagious during this time. There is absolutely no reason why schools need to close. Imagine the inconvenience for millions of parents. And if schools, then why not universities, or cinemas or hospitals? I honestly don't know why I'm surprised; given that the federal government's security strategy for the World Economic Forum in May involved ordering a complete shutdown of Abuja for three days, this news should hardly come as a shock. And taken in the context of a dysfunctional education system where universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Educations regularly shut down for months on end due to strike action, a mere delay of 7 weeks to the start of term is small beer. (The Colleges of Education returned to class in late July after a 7 month strike; the polytechnics returned on 14 July having been on strike - for 10 months - since October 3rd. And this was hot on the heels of a dispute at the public universities, where staff were on strike for 6 months during the second half of 2013). So despite the frustrations of the school closure, we should spare a thought for a Nigerian student trying to pursue a tertiary education course here (not to mention a harassed mother of two small children trying to work on a research project within the Nigerian higher education sector).
This is funny but at least you get time to spend with your kids. As it is not even WHO knows for sure how Ebola is spread.
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