•Wants restriction scrapped
• Travel ban discriminatory, attack on diplomatic relations, Senate tells UK
•NCDC confirms three new cases
•Seven travellers from Nigeria test positive in UK
•NCAA threatens to ban international airlines that flout COVID-19 protocols
Deji Elumoye, Onyebuchi Ezigbo, Adedayo Akinwale,
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja and Chinedu Eze in Lagos
The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Justin Welby yesterday waded into the growing outrage among Nigerians condemning the United Kingdom’s (UK) inclusion of Nigeria in its COVID-19 red list without justification, saying it was a “travel apartheid” and calls for it to be scrapped.
In series of tweets on his Twitter handle,@JustinWelby, the Archbishop of Canterbury urged the UK government to abolish what he described as the “morally wrong and self-defeating” red list.
The United Nations Secretary General had a few days ago described the action of the UK government as travel Apartheid, targeted at poor nations.
Nigeria’s Senate yesterday, also insisted that the travel ban was discriminatory and an attack on diplomatic relations between the two nations and called for the UK to remove it.
The Red chamber at plenary accordingly, called on the British authorities to consider removing Nigeria from the red list.
However, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) yesterday confirmed three more omicron cases in Nigeria.
The centre also said that Nigeria has been notified by the UK government of seven cases of travellers from Nigeria with the infection.
This was just as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has threatened to ban from Nigeria, any airline operating international services that do not abide by the country’s COVID-19 protocols for passengers as issued by the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC).
Nigeria became the 11th country to go on the UK’s red list for international travelon Monday. All nations currently on that list are African.
The only people allowed to enter the UK from these countries are UK or Irish nationals, or UK residents. They would have to pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked government-approved hotel for a total of 10 days.
But in a message to his 165,000 Twitter followers, the Archbishop wrote: “With #Omicron set to become the dominant variant in the UK, I appeal to the British government to remove Nigeria and South Africa from the red list – together with all other countries currently on it.
“We must find fair and effective approaches for those who are vaccinated and tested to enter the UK. I agree with the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK – we cannot have ‘travel apartheid’.
“It is also morally wrong – and self-defeating – effectively to punish other nations for being transparent when they discover new Covid variants, as @ArchbishopThabo of Cape Town has said.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had said that blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of the variant, and could potentially discourage countries from reporting and sharing important data on coronavirus.
Welby had previously criticised the addition of Nigeria, Botswana and South Africa to the red list, saying they were “countries already suffering that will suffer more.”
Senate Wants Nigeria Removed from Red List
Furthermore, the Senate advised the UK government to be sensitive to the diplomatic relationship between both countries when taking decision that affect Nigerian citizens.
It urged the federal government to engage British authorities to reverse Nigeria’s inclusion on the red list.
The upper chamber also charged the administration to remain firm in the enforcement of necessary protocols in the containment of every COVID-19 variant in Nigeria.
It further advised developing countries which it listed to include Britain, Canada, United States of America, the European Union, among others, to take urgent and bold steps to ensure vaccine equity in the interest of the entire human race.
The resolutions were reached by the Senate sequel to the consideration of a motion on the, “Need for Government of the United Kingdom to remove Nigeria from COVID-19 Red List,” sponsored by the former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu (Enugu West).
Coming under order 42 and 52 of the Senate Rules, Ekweremadu noted with satisfaction the efforts of the Government of Nigeria in the containment and treatment of COVID-19 cases.
According to him: “Nigeria is among the countries with the lowest cases of COVID-19.”
“The decision by the British Government to include Nigeria in their COVID-19 list, with its concomitant implications, will affect many citizens of Nigeria, who had planned to spend their Christmas and New Year holiday with their families.
“Also worried that Nigerians with genuine needs to visit the U.K within this period will be denied visa and those with visa will not be allowed to enter the U.K.”
The ranking Senator noted that Nigerians have consistently complied with all the COVID-19 protocols required by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UK Government for travelers prior to the ban.
He emphasised that, “targeting African countries, especially in the COVID-19 travel ban, amounts to profiling and discrimination as well as an attack on our cordial diplomatic relationship with the UK.”
Ekweremadu drew the attention of the lawmakers to global concerns over vaccines hoarding and inequity and the resulting consequences on low-income nations in the fight against COVID-19.
In his contribution, Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, said the decision to include Nigeria on the UK COVID-19 red list posed a strain on the diplomatic relationship between both countries, just as he bemoaned the poor treatment of Nigeria by the UK government.
He, therefore, called on the British Parliament to intervene with a view to having Nigeria removed from the country’s COVID-19 red list.
Lawan added: “Let there be justification for it. We are not saying that they cannot put any country on the red list, including Nigeria, but there must be reasons for doing that.
“And of course, Nigeria has done so well to the admiration of many countries in the area of containment of COVID-19. Therefore, we don’t see any reason why Nigeria will be on that so called red list.
“I believe that Nigerians deserve better treatment from the British government. I’m using this opportunity to ask the British Parliament to mount pressure on their government to remove Nigeria from the so called red list.”
Meanwhile, members of the House of Representatives were sharply divided yesterday, following a debate on the decision of the UK to place temporary visa ban on Nigerians after the discovery of omicron variant.
While some House of Representatives members were of the views that the decision of the UK government against Nigerians was harsh and racist, others believed it was a wake-up call on the government and those in authority to fix the country, especially the health and education sector.
While the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase who presided over the plenary allocated more time for the debate on temporary visa ban to run for almost an hour, the debate on the death of a pupil at Dowen College, Lagos didn’t enjoy the same preference.
Moving the motion, the Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu said the decision of the UK government came only a few days after Canada extended its travel ban to travelers who recently visited Nigeria.
He said though the ban was for Nigerians bound for the UK, it does not exempt over 8,000 Nigerian travelers that had bought air tickets to visit Nigeria during the yuletide period, saying the restriction would affect their re-entry into the UK after holidays.
Elumelu noted that rather than seek to work with its commonwealth ally on ways to combat and curtail the spread of this new variant, the UK government decided to outright ban Nigerian travelers from entering their country.
According to him, this was in sharp contrast to that of the United States government whose response was for travelers to produce evidence of negative test result at the point of departure as well as a day two test result after arrival in their country, a response that have received wide commendation across board,
The lawmaker further expressed worry that the UK government chose to announce the ban without discussing the data in its possession with the Nigerian government, but instead gave an hour notice to the Nigeria authorities before its inclusion on the red list, contrary to known international convention.
Elumelu said the Omicron variant has now been found in over 40 countries around the world including many from the European Union, but only Nigeria and a few African countries were banned by the UK government.
The minority leader stressed that if the Nigerian government does not urgently engage the authorities of UK, the decision could have a significant impact on businesses and travelers intending to carry out lawful transactions in the UK as opportunities and investments already made would be lost, hence the need for a quick interface.
Elumelu noted that children who school abroad and had thought of returning home during this festive period to rejoin with their families and with fears that when they later go back would be subjected to 10 days mandatory isolation centre and be made to pay £2,700 for such hotel bookings may be totally discouraged from coming home and thereby deny such families the opportunity of their children rejoining them for this annual family union.
Contributing, Hon. Aminu Suleiman said there was a need for the country to do internal assessment.
He said Nigeria has already admitted to having an omicron variant, saying there was no need castigating another sovereign country for taking such a decision as it has the right to do so.
On his part, Hon. Nicholas Ossai said the issue canvassed by the minority leader was germane, adding that there was need to meet with the British government and resolve the issue diplomatically.
In his submission, Hon. Nnonli Nnaji said inasmuch as he aligned himself to the motion, the message from the action by the UK government was for Nigerians to fix their country.
On his part, Hon. Onofiok Luke said there was a need for introspection, stressing that there was need to join hands with the leadership to make sure that the right things are done.
He said rather than blaming other countries, there was a need to fix the country and make things work.
NCDC Confirms Three New Cases of Omicron Variant
However, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has
confirmed three more cases of the COVID-19 with the B.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, which is the omicron variant, in Nigeria.
A statement signed by the Director General of NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, noted that given reports of increasing numbers of omicron cases in the UK, the NCDC was prioritising the sequencing of COVID-19 positive samples in travellers with history of travel to the UK.
The three new cases bring the total number of omicron variant so far detected in Nigeria to six.
NCDC had previously announced the detection of three cases of omicron variant on December 2021.
In the statement, Adetifa said all omicron cases so far detected in Nigeria were detected in persons with recent travel history to South Africa in November.
“In line with Article 44 of the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) reporting framework, the federal government of Nigeria through the NCDC has also been notified by the UK government of seven cases of travellers from Nigeria with the Omicron variant.
“Given the reports of increasing numbers of Omicron cases in the UK, the NCDC is also prioritising the sequencing of COVID-19 positive samples in travellers with history of travel to the UK,” it explained.
The NCDC said it would through the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) continue to coordinate genomic surveillance activities across the country to sequence all positive COVID-19 samples from international travellers arriving in Nigeria.
“This includes sequencing of positive samples from international travellers from October 2021 to date,” said NCDC.
The Centre however maintained that the Delta variant has remained the dominant variant than the new omicron variant.
It also stated that there was no evidence of generalised or community transmission of this variant in Nigeria.
The Centre said it would continue implement effective public heath measures such as mask use, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and defaulters which may include publication of their details, suspension of their passports take personal and collective responsibility to ensure the safety of all Nigerians.
Furthermore, it advised that incoming travellers should ensure their day two and day seven tests are done into effect on day five in compliance with the travel protocols provided by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID19.
“The NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Health urges members of the public to continue to COVID-19 (PSC-COVID-19) is mandatory for all international travellers arriving in Nigeria and ban on travel to Nigeria by the PSC-COVID-19.
NCAA Threatens to Ban International Airlines
The NCAA has threatened to ban from Nigeria any airline operating international services that does not abide by COVID-19 protocols for its passengers, as issued by the PSC.
It stressed that non-compliance to the boarding requirements by any airline would attract a penalty of $3, 500 per passenger adding that airlines which consistently fail to comply with these requirements, may be banned from coming to Nigeria.
The aviation regulatory authority insisted that the airlines must follow revised quarantine protocol for travellers arriving or departing Nigeria. It also said passengers must follow the revised provisional quarantine protocol as updated by the PSC on COVID-19.
NCAA therefore directed all airline operators to convey to travellers the revised provisional quarantine protocol.
In a statement dated December 3, 2021, and directed to airline accountable managers and country manager, it stated: “Airlines are to however note that protocols for international flight operations issued on 1st July 2021 still subsists.”
On inbound passengers, the NCAA stated that airlines are to only board passengers travelling to Nigeria who are in possession of a paid permit to travel with QR Code and result of a negative COVID-19 PCR test done not later than 48 hours from time of boarding the flight.
“For any inbound passenger who is unable to either make payment for his /her repeat PCR test(s) or generate a paid permit to travel via the Nigerian international Travel Portal (NIPT), airlines are to send an email to designated email addresses for necessary assistance,” it added.
The statement which was signed by the NCAA Director General, Captain Musa Nuhu also stated that for outbound flights, airlines are to only board passengers travelling out of Nigeria with evidence of either full vaccination for COVID-19 or result of negative COVID-19 PCR test done at NCDC accredited private laboratories not later than 48 hours from time of boarding.
Nigeria Can Only Embark on Retaliatory Action as Last Resort, Says NIIA
In a related development, the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, yesterday argued that unless all other avenue’s had been exhausted, Nigeria may not retaliate.
Speaking on ARISE Television, THISDAY’s broadcast arm, Osaghae who was reacting to calls by some Nigerians to ban UK citizens from the country in like manner, argued that until all other alternatives to a peaceful resolution were fully deployed, retaliation would not be necessary.
“By the way, if you have exhausted all possible avenues for addressing disagreements or conflicts of this nature, then of course, you know if all these fail, you can then resort to reciprocity.
“I’m sure that you know that this is not something that is beyond resolution and as the chair of our response team, the secretary to the government of the federation said yesterday that there are talks going on behind the scene and we hope that this issue will be resolved,” he stressed.
Osaghae expressed the hope that the issue doesn’t degenerate in the coming days, saying that the British response had been too highhanded and discriminatory.
“ At the last count, there were 47 countries that had reported cases of Omicron, the variant, and out of these 47, there are only about six in Africa. And when you introduce travel restrictions, it is not to all of these 47 countries, it’s only to the Southern African countries and Nigeria.
“And yet the evidence suggests that this (virus) is not restricted to Africa. It’s not restricted to Nigeria. And Nigeria itself is not a source. It’s not an originator. The fact that it was detected, that doesn’t make South Africa the owner,” he added.
