By Alaba Yusuf
Our country has just revealed what we doubted would ever return: virulent Ebola outbreak!
Recently, on Tuesday, October 21, 2026, the NCDC announced an imported case of Ebola Virus Disease in Abuja — a woman, wife of a Swiss diplomat, who arrived via Addis Ababa on October 5 and tested positive for the deadly Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine and no specific treatment.
As confirmed, 46 or more contacts have now been traced — mostly healthcare workers who attended to her at the private hospital where she first presented with malaria-like symptoms on October 11. Her husband, who lives with her in Abuja, is among them. Fortunately enough, no other person has demonstrated any symptoms of the dreaded disease.
Infact, the rare strain has already reportedly killed over 4,600 people since May across DRC, Uganda and Kenya. Nigeria is now the fourth country affected, and the most populous — making this the most geographically complex Ebola outbreak Africa has ever faced. Is our public health vehicle in Nigeria dangling dangerously on a cliff-hanger?
Strangely enough, the virus is not our biggest vulnerability. Distrust is. A national mutual mistrust on anything, including a dastardly mutating Ebola pandemic.
In the past, in 2014, we contained Ebola in 93 days because we trusted. We trusted Dr. Stella Adadevoh who stopped Patrick Sawyer at the cost of her life. The nation hailed her medical martyrdom and unmatched bravado. The magnitude and magnificence of man's mind over a matter of medical emergency, then and now, cannot be over emphasized.
Sadly today, in 2026, Nigerians fear government more than Ebola. What has changed? Those at the Helms of affairs seem to have put a wedge between themselves and the governed. Thus creating a deep gulf in the heart of national interest as hinged on common goal and communal growth.
To be candid, when NCDC says "46 contacts identified", many Nigerians on WhatsApp now hear: "They are inflating numbers for donor money." When the Health Minister says "patient in isolation," the people hears: "Another lockdown loading." The greatest loss is a nation where the biggest currency of all, trust, is thinning out fast. Nobody believes anybody anymore!
Such mountain of doubt and cynicism is lethal to say the least. With a strain that kills half of those infected, delayed reporting because of distrust will cost lives. How do we bail ourselves out without a loss?
Ebola's arrival on the eve of January 2027 general elections — just two months away, is hard nut to crack for the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is arguably one of the least trusted leaders in Nigeria today. So sad.
For some uncanny reasons, public health action will now be seen through political lens. If government announces restrictions, opposition will shout "plot to suppress votes." If government requests emergency funding, citizens will shout "Ebola money for campaign." Apparently, trust is lying bare on the slaughter's slab of public opinion. A real noisy house of commotion and programmed polemics.
Isolation and enforcement of 21-day follow-up for contacts become an arduous task. Especially in a country without proper addresse and a cuture of communal living; where markets, religious centres and political rallies are always jammed packed.
To rebuild trust and curb misinformation, the Presidency and INEC must continue to declare that no Ebola emergency will be used to shift the essential January 2027 polls. That single statement will kill the most dangerous conspiracy theory, and bring the missing wheel of trust back on track.
Medical professionals, epidemiologists and criticalstakeholders, not politicians, should be on the front seat to drive the narrative to a skeptical audience. Science should take supremacy over superstition in a nation of doubters.
Meanwhile, in 2014, Nigeria showed the world we could stop Ebola with honesty. In 2026, we must prove we can do it again — even as a distrusting nation.
In all fairness, a distrusting nation can survive both a vital election and a dreaded infection. Therefore, no amount of evil machinations or political manipulation should deny a population of nearly 250 million citizens the fundamental rights to choose their own leader in a democratic manner, without distractions or systemic distortion.
After all, electoral process is a marathon not a 100 meter sprint. Every step of the ladder counts. Ebola outbreak in Nigeria was not created by President Bola Tinubu. That notwithstanding, his administration has the onerous constitutional task of finding solution to this unsolicited virulent invasion, before it takes banditry proportion.
- Chief Alaba Yusuf, mnipr, is public affairs analyst based in Abuja
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