President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats, alongside the immediate release of N10 billion to strengthen Nigeria’s emergency response capacity amid growing concerns over the resurgence of the deadly virus in parts of Africa.
The development was announced in a State House statement issued on June 9, 2026, by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, the intervention fund will be deployed to bolster the operational readiness of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical public health emergency response measures across the country.
The Presidential Task Force, which will be chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, will comprise representatives of relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as state governments.
The decision followed a high-level stakeholders’ meeting convened by Gbajabiamila to assess Nigeria’s preparedness and develop strategies to prevent the possible importation of Ebola into the country following reported outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Other stakeholders at the meeting included officials from the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Lagos State Government, and other key agencies.
The Presidency said Tinubu had also directed all states hosting international airports and border corridors to submit detailed preparedness plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for coordinated implementation.
As part of the emergency measures, the President approved intensified passenger screening at all international airports, including enhanced temperature checks and stricter crowd-control protocols.
The Task Force will also oversee enhanced monitoring of passengers arriving through high-risk routes operated by airlines such as Air Uganda, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.
In addition, referral and isolation centres are to be immediately activated at the international airports in Lagos and Abuja, with similar facilities to be established at other airports across the country.
The statement further disclosed that a QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration system would become mandatory for passengers arriving from or transiting through designated high-risk countries.
Authorities have also been directed to commence the routine disinfection of departure halls, cargo facilities, baggage handling areas and other airport infrastructure as precautionary measures.
Tinubu further instructed the advisory group to engage security, diplomatic and aviation authorities on possible regulations affecting flights from countries considered high-risk.
The Task Force was also mandated to consider designating specific airports or terminals for flights originating from affected countries to facilitate controlled screening, monitoring and isolation procedures.
It will equally examine the possibility of adjusting flight schedules to minimise contact between passengers arriving from high-risk destinations and other travellers.
The latest measures signal Nigeria’s renewed vigilance against Ebola, a highly infectious viral disease that previously claimed lives during outbreaks across parts of Africa, including the 2014 health emergency that tested the country’s public health response system.
