The Federal Government has approved
the employment of 490 Environmental
Health Officers (EHO) to man border
areas to prevent further spread of Ebola
disease.
The Minister of Environment, Mrs
Laurentia Mallam, made this known at
the inauguration of the Governing Board
of Environmental Health Officers
Registration Council of Nigeria
(EHORECON) in Abuja on Monday.
Mallam said that the action was part of
the Federal Government’s efforts to
boost staff strength to check further
spread of the deadly disease.
She said that President Goodluck
Jonathan had mandated the ministry to
employ professionals to man border
areas as well as ports, to ensure that
those environments were kept clean.
She, however, acknowledged the fact
that the number to be recruited was
inadequate, adding that more would be
recruited in due course with the
approval of the President.
“Ebola is real and the Federal
Government is ready to fight it.
“Mr President has made funds available
to the Ministry of Health to control
further spread of the disease.
“Nigerians, on their part, should be
conscious of their environment and keep
the environment clean all the time.
“Though the recruitment of additional
490 environmental health officers for
this purpose is not even enough because
Nigeria is very big and this number
cannot reach out to all states.
“I believe that our President is
committed to the prevention of this
disease.”
Mallam said that the ministry was ready
to work with the council to ensure the
early return of EHO, with the aim of
attaining the level of effectiveness
witnessed in the past.
She stressed the need to key into the
initiative by states and local councils for
the prevention of diseases.
The minister urged the council to report
all cases of breach of the code of ethics
of the profession by some erring
members for discipline.
“We want to re-introduce the
environmental health officers’ cadre in
our various communities in order to
restore environmental sanity.
“My ministry is ready to work with the
council to ensure the early return of the
environmental health officers with the
aim of attaining the level of
effectiveness witnessed during the
colonial era and beyond.
“I request the council to look into issues
as well as reports of breach of the code
of ethics of the profession by some
members across the nation.
“I want you to carry out full
investigation and ensure that integrity is
the watchword of practitioners, and any
person, no matter how highly placed,
found to have compromised should be
appropriately sanctioned.
In his remarks, Mr Augustine Ebisike,
the Registrar of the council, commended
the government for constituting the
board.
Ebisike said that the council over 2,000
certificates of registration for
practitioners yet to be signed, due to
lack a governing board.
He said that the council would improve
in its operational capability, to prevent
outbreak of diseases in Nigeria.
He also expressed commitment of the
council to tackle the outbreak and
further spread of the Ebola disease.
Responding, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, the
newly inaugurated board Chairman,
urged every stakeholder in the health
and environment sectors to play their
roles in ensuring that the issue of Ebola
was addressed quickly.
Afolabi, who was a former Head of
Service of the Federation and
Permanent Secretary of the ministry,
appealed to the Federal Government to
employ more professionals to meet the
WHO requirement of one EHO to 8,000
people.
He said that the council, under his
watch, would not hesitate to discipline
those who would bring the image of the
profession to ridicule.
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