By Igho Akeregha
The Federal Government on Monday reacted to the travel ban slammed on Nigeria by the United Kingdom describing the action as discriminatory and not supported by any scientific evidence.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who spoke at a news conference in Abuja said by the ban, Britain now joins other countries, including Canada, which have taken similar action against Nigeria over the Omicron Covid variant.
Mohammed who flayed the action noted that the decision of the British government to put Nigeria on the red list, just because of less than two dozen cases of Omicron which, did not originate in the country, is unjust, unfair, punitive, indefensible, and discriminatory adding that the decision is not driven by science.
How do you slam this kind of discriminatory action on a country of 200 million people, just because of less than two dozen cases? Whereas British citizens and residents are allowed to come in from Nigeria, non-residents from the same country are banned. The two groups are coming from the same country, but are subject to different conditions. Why won’t Britain allow people in both categories to come in, and be subjected to the same conditions of testing and quarantine? This is why this decision to ban travelers from Nigeria, who are neither citizens nor residents, is grossly discriminatory and punitive, the Minister said.
He described as a knee-jerk reaction that can only be detrimental to the quest to conclusively tackle the pandemic the decision put Nigeria on the red list. “Instead of these reflex responses that are driven by fear, rather than science, why can’t the world take a serious look at the issue of access to vaccines, and ensure that it is based on the principles grounded in the right of every human to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, political belief, economic or any other social condition.”.
In the wake of the discovery of Omicron, the Minister said the PSC has reviewed its International Travel Protocol which came into effect on Sunday 5 Dec. 2021 aimed at further reducing the risk of importation and exportation of COVID-19, especially the variants of concern. Under the revised protocol, he said passengers arriving in Nigeria are expected to provide evidence of and comply with a set of rules including; – COVID-19 PCR test to be done within 48 hours before departure, Post-arrival Day 2 COVID-19 PCR test, and Self-isolation for 7 days (for unvaccinated and partially-vaccinated individuals.
Other measures are Day 7 post-arrival exit PCR test (for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals), while out-bound passengers are required to provide valid evidence of full vaccination against COVID-19 and negative PCR test result within 48 hours from the time boarding.
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The government said these are science-driven actions, rather than those based on emotions and other extraneous reasons. But if any country is not satisfied with them, the Minister observed that why not simply subject Nigerians arriving in their country to their own PCR tests and proven conditions, like quarantine, instead of banning them outrightly?
He expressed optimism that the British government will review the decision to put Nigeria on its red list and rescind it immediately.
Mohammed reiterated that Nigeria has handled the Covid-19 pandemic with utmost responsibility and based on science, and has rightly earned global accolades for its efforts and should not belong on any country’s red list.
