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Information Failure: Cause of Sierra Leone Ebola Spread

By Ezekiel Nabieu

As long as people travel the Ebola contagion was likely to come from neighbouring Guinea or Liberia but it could have come on a reduced scale and much later.

In any case it’s no use crying over spilt milk because it will only make it salty for the cat. Ebola is upon us. In its skip step and jump from Guinea to Liberia it has coincidentally begun from the Kailahun District from where our earlier war disaster started. Whether it is a question of history wanting to repeat itself only the future knows.

I have said before and I am saying it again that there are far too many people and units involved in this government information business resulting in unavoidable overlapping.

In other words too many cooks spoil the broth. There will be arguments over the ingredients, their quantities and the timing of their inputs and duration of cooking etc. that is the picture of the disaster that is befalling us.

Curiously this looming epidemic happens at a time when local radio stations cover all districts in the country and these are expected to speak to the people in their own native languages. Could it be that the broadcasters have been speaking in tongues that the native people would consider as foreign? The policy formulators who are professionals are ensconced at the Ministry of Information which also oversees a worthless outfit known as the Sierra Leone News Agency which has outlived its usefulness. Not only that.

The Kailahun District Council Chairman, Alex Bonafa was lamenting on the other day over how units from the central government were not consulting him but going their separate ways. There was talk of politicising and non-politicising but Ebola is blind killing all in its path be they APC, SLPP, PMDC,UDM or apolitical alike.

I wager that if the ignorant people knew that the medical teams did not go to harm them but to save them they wouldn’t have lifted a stone against them. But here we are with people who can go to the extent of burning down an ambulance as an enemy vehicle in the war. They must have either received skewed information or information from mischief makers. At this stage it is appropriate to apportion some of the blame for the negative reaction of the people on semi-literacy. It is known that a little learning is a dangerous thing. True. Some of the drop-outs go about the villages proffering all sorts of solutions to problems they know little or nothing about which is taken as gospel truth by the gormless ones. How sad! How can a government go about killing its own people who are not in rebellion? It beats any rational person hallow. It reminds me of the reaction of people in certain parts of Nigerian to polio vaccination which is not dissimilar to the Kailahun uprising. I thought that the people of Kailahun belonged to the 21st century and not to Dark Ages. The Bible states that my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Indeed, Ebola is still destroying and may decimate us if all the jarring parties do not put their acts together. It's time to synergize.

LACK OF GLOVES

Customary handshaking without gloves has been identified as one of the culprits in the spread of Ebola. Now how easy is it to dishonour an age old custom like handshaking and sometimes embracing? It is so natural that you tend to shake hands before reflecting on Ebola. It has been done. You cannot wash off the incurable infection.

That Ebola killed the chief Imam of the Daru Central Mosque proves beyond all reasonable doubts that Ebola is no respecter of persons. The Imam’s death may be due to the belief of Muslims in fatalism, the belief that whatever happens is predestined and inescapable. It is known that the usual practice after prayers is the shaking of hands and hobnobbing. It is also usual for Imams and other men of God to visit patients for prayers and vice versa. Therefore the Imam’s death should come as little surprise. “Nar God say” is the refuge.

And talking about the “everything nar God” syndrome Men of God in the Christian religion are not also blameless. The newfangled practice for the Churches is for the priests to call on members of their congregation to shake hands with their nearest neighbours or if possible to go around the Church to shake hands with everybody else. That way Ebola could be transmitted in a congregation by a single member with even a slight wound on his/her hand.

The priests ask for sharing of the PEACE or they call for chanting the chorus “My hands are blessed…” Well if this practice is not suspended it may turn into “my hands are cursed.” The practice is more of a social than theological value. It does not in any way enhance love among members per se. It is a practice that should be more honoured in its temporary breach than in its observance. The well-meaning practice of handshaking is not likely to be suspended until a Bishop dies from an overdose.

The temporary closure of schools in Kailahun District is a step in the right direction but serious consideration should be given to the suspension of nonessential Third-Term and other public meetings. How about that Madam Miatta Challenger (the woman who has the raw guts to challenge hard-worked statistics by world figures)? Remember if Ebola creeps into Freetown the consequences can be dire.

(C) Politico 19/06/14

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