Skip to main content

Ebola: NHRC Chair calls for shift of NBA conference


Odiankalu


Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr. Chidi Odinkalu has called the postponement of the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) scheduled for between August 24 and 29 in Owerri, Imo State in view of the current Ebola disease threat.
Odinkalu who is a scheduled speaker at the conference disclosed in a statement on Sunday that he is under observation for Ebola having been attended to by one of the doctors in Lagos,who managed the index case.
He urged intending participants at the conference to consider withdrawing from attending in view of the possible health risk involved in a gathering of the large number of people attracted annually by the conference.
“I am a scheduled speaker at the Owerri conference. I have also been a person under observation for Ebola because as an out-patient I was attended on July 21 by one of the doctors in Lagos,who managed the index case, i.e., on the day after he was admitted.
“The NBA has no way of knowing this and has made no effort to elicit this kind of information from any of the participants. I have decided that I will not go to Owerri.
“As an act of responsible citizenship, I would also urge as many intending participants as possible to consider withdrawing from the Owerri conference.” Odinkalu said.
He argued that it was incumbent on the NBA‎ to contribute to measures to control and manage the public health emergency caused by the presence of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country by postponing the conference.
He said it would be a wrong decision for the NBA to continue with the conference in the circumstances of the present public health emergency prevailing in the country.
Odinkalu said the NBA, in a bid to avoid leadership vacuum, could swear-in newly elected national officers of the association (which was one of the events planned for the conference) at a less elaborate venue at the NBA office in Abuja.
“The NBA Conference is usually a very large gathering. Its venues usually attract well in excess of 20,000 participants, traders and visitors. It’s an excellent market place for a virus in search of vectors.
“On August 15 the NBA issued a public statement claiming that it ‘is putting adequate anti-Ebola precautions for its members attending the 2014 Annual General Conference in Owerri. It failed to say what these precautions were or who said they were ‘adequate.’
“As a result, participants are not in a position to asses independently what risks they run in attending the conference. The most ‘adequate precaution’ the NBA can take at this time is to defer the conference. It should do so. If the NBA declines, I would urge government at all levels to strongly request it to do so,” Odiankalu

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Genevieve is the richest celebrity in Nigeria

In a recent release by Vanguard, Genevieve Nnaji tops the list of the top 10 richest celebrities in Nigeria. According to the list, the actress is said to be worth over N220 million. In the selection process, endorsement deals were the major criteria and Genevieve has signed many deals with multi-national companies in recent times including Etisalat, Amstel Malta, Range Rover Envogue and MUD Cosmetics. Despite being missing from the Glo Ambassador list,  Genevieve  still knocks out big names like Iyanya in 2nd place at N151 by a whopping 69million in second place with N151 million, music group Psquare who came in third with N140million, Wizkid at number four with N101 million and D’banjwho occupied fifth place with N100million. 1. Genevieve Nnaji: N220 Million Genevieve Nnaji is representing or has represented brands like Lux, Cintrion Energy drink, Range Rover Evogue, Etisalat, Polo and Amstel Malta. The Etisalat deal alone e...
Post a Comment
Read more

EBOLA: Salt Water Kills Three In Bauchi State

At least three people have been reported to have died, while a pregnant woman also landed in hospital, as a result of excessive intake of salt for the prevention of Ebola Virus in Bauchi State.   According to Vanguard report, an old man in Misau local council and three other adults in Bigi , Gudum Sayawa, and Bayara village, suburbs in Bauchi, northern Nigeria, were the victims of the salt intake exercise An unnamed source was quoted to have said that one of the deceased, Mr. Paul Bigi, 74, drank more than two cups of salted water and also rub some on his body after bathing with the salt water as advised by his children. “Less than one hour after he took the salt water, Baba started deficating non-stop and he died in the morning around 7am,” the source said. Also in Gumdum Sayawa, it was gathered that one John Ayuba made use of one bag of salt in one drum of water for bathing and one bag of salt in another drum of water for drinking due to large number of peopl...
Post a Comment
Read more