President Bola Tinubu has approved N45bn for integrated biosecurity and disease surveillance systems at five international airports, as Nigeria steps up efforts to detect and contain infectious disease threats.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, disclosed this on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Tinubu.
Pate listed the airports as Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.
He said the project would be delivered through a 20-year public-private partnership with the BioHealth Consortium. The system would use aircraft wastewater surveillance, air and surface sampling, and specialised pathogen detection technologies.
According to the minister, the system would monitor a broad range of dangerous pathogens and improve coordination among agencies responsible for disease surveillance and border health security.
The approval comes amid efforts to strengthen surveillance following Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported case of Ebola linked to the ongoing outbreak in Uganda.
Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of the current outbreak on October 20, 2026, after laboratory tests detected the Bundibugyo virus in a woman who travelled to the country from Uganda through Addis Ababa.
The patient developed symptoms on October 7 and sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 before the infection was confirmed.
Following her evacuation to Switzerland on October 26, Nigerian authorities continued monitoring identified contacts and investigating possible exposures.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Nigeria must complete 42 days without further confirmed or probable cases before the outbreak can be declared over.