Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer brought Ebola into Lagos, Nigeria in July and infected some people who came into contact with him but the disease has now been successfully contained and there are no confirmed cases remaining in the country.The Governor of Lagos, Babatunde Fashola is said to have explained how the state managed to achieve the feat while speaking yesterday, September 16, 2014, during the fourth Lagos Corporate Assembly at the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
“Without the Public health law which was passed in 2002, we would have been in trouble. This was one of the things our partners asked immediately they arrived.The law gives the state the opportunity to arrest anyone whose health constitutes danger to others. When we said yes, they were happy and they said that was where they started their work. Without the law, we could not have achieved what we did.“When cremation law was passed few years ago, some residents kicked against it. We said it was not compulsory. But if Lagos wants to retain its status and achieve more, the law is needed. The law caters for foreigners that cremating is part of their life style.We did not foresee Ebola but the laws became a veritable tool for us to curtail the spread of the virus because corpses are more dangerous than the carrier of the virus. Other states are now going to the parliament to seek the passage of the law.”“They (Nigeria’s EVD victims) would have died in vain if we surrender to the virus. They are heroes and they must be appropriately recognised.We must continue to push forward in the fight against it. There is still problem in Liberia, Sierra Leone and others. Their population is not what we have in Nigeria especially in Lagos State. For Lagos alone, the capacity of the state encompasses many of thoseFashola also added that Nigeria, being the fifth largest economy in Africa, should make efforts to help her neighbours who are still struggling to fight the disease".
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