Newly Released Files Reveal Epstein’s Private Advice on Tackling Nigeria Vaccine Hesitancy

Segun Atanda/

Newly released documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act reveal that convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, privately advised a senior science adviser to Bill Gates on how to overcome vaccine resistance in Nigeria, likening the task to colonial-era tactics used against Native Americans.

The March 2013 email exchange, catalogued as EFTA01761706 and published by the US Department of Justice, shows Epstein corresponding with Boris Nikolic, then a top science adviser to Gates and later named as a back-up executor of Epstein’s will.

The subject was resistance in northern Nigeria to a polio vaccination campaign “associated with both the west and with bill and melinda”, a reference to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest private funders of global immunisation efforts.

Epstein wrote that he had consulted what he described as his “best sources”, adding that their conclusions were “very often better than the list of the various 26 three-letter agencies”.

According to the email, one such source, described as “the most sophisticated, experienced and successful of the group, great experience in countries of your interest”, offered blunt advice: “If he wants to get their consent, he needs to use candles and small mirrors, the same as the Americans did with their native Indians.”

Nikolic replied: “Great input — I guess we will need colorful beads and mirrors.”

The exchange, which appears to treat vaccine hesitancy as a communications obstacle to be tactically overcome, rather than a grievance to be substantively addressed, raises fresh questions about the tone and mindset behind some high-level global health discussions.

Vaccine resistance in parts of northern Nigeria has long been linked to historical and political factors.

In 1996, during a meningitis outbreak in Kano, pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, tested an experimental antibiotic, Trovan, on children. Eleven children died during the trial, and subsequent litigation and settlements followed. The episode, widely referred to as the Trovan scandal, fuelled deep suspicion of Western medical interventions in the region.

By the early 2000s, several northern states had temporarily suspended polio vaccination campaigns amid rumours and distrust, setbacks that global health authorities worked for years to overcome.

In his 2013 message, Epstein also predicted that Boko Haram would begin kidnapping polio workers for ransom, a development that subsequently materialised as insurgent violence escalated in the north-east. Polio vaccinators were later attacked and killed in multiple incidents.

Epstein’s reference to intelligence-grade insight was explicit. He told Nikolic he had relied on sources whose assessments were “very often better” than those of US intelligence agencies. There is no evidence in the released document detailing who those sources were.

Nikolic’s deference was equally striking. In one line, he told Epstein: “I would rather seek your opinion than seek opinion of 1,000 of global health experts.”

At the time of the exchange, Epstein had already served a jail sentence in Florida in 2008 after pleading guilty to charges related to procuring a minor for prostitution. He was arrested again in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and later died in custody.

Publicly, the Gates Foundation has consistently described its vaccination work in Africa as community-driven and evidence-based, emphasising partnerships with local leaders, religious authorities and governments.

The language in the 2013 emails stands in stark contrast. The metaphor of “candles and small mirrors” evokes colonial tropes of manipulating indigenous populations with trinkets, framing consent as something to be engineered rather than earned through trust-building and accountability.

The newly released document does not indicate that the suggested approach was ever adopted. Nor does it show any operational decisions flowing directly from the exchange.

However, the correspondence underscores the extent of Epstein’s access to influential figures in science and philanthropy long after his earlier conviction, and his willingness to inject himself into sensitive global health discussions.

The emails suggest that, at least in private, overcoming vaccine resistance in Africa was discussed not solely as a matter of public health engagement, but as a strategic challenge to be outmanoeuvred.

Nigeria was declared free of wild poliovirus in 2020 after decades of international effort.