FG Explores Diplomatic Channels with UK, Saudi Arabia, Canada over Travel Restrictions

•Says efforts will yield results in one week

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The federal government has said it was considering diplomatic options to compel the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Canada to reverse their travel restrictions placed on Nigerians in the wake of concern over the presence of the Omicron strain of the COVID-19 in the country.

Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, disclosed this yesterday at an emergency media briefing of the PSC in Abuja.

He said the federal government was expecting the diplomatic option to yield positive outcome in the interest of all parties concerned within the next one week.

His speech, however, appeared to be a calculated softening of stance from the retaliatory ban declared by the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, in a leaked audio on Saturday,after a virtual meeting of the PSC members on the same day.

“The PSC is working with mandate ministries to address the issues surrounding the restriction imposed by some countries on travellers from Nigeria on account of the Omicron variant. While each country is entitled to put in place measures to protect its citizens, Nigeria has similar responsibilities.

“However, based on existing relationships, Nigeria has initiated diplomatic steps to make these countries reverse their course. This is on-going in the interest of all parties concerned and we expect that positive results would emerge within the next one week,” Mustapha said.

Sirika, who on Saturday said PSC would yesterday announce the retaliatory ban on UK travellers, merely rehashed Mustapha’s speech.

He said: “The PSC is working with mandate ministries to address the issues surrounding the restriction imposed by some countries on travelers from Nigeria on account of the Omicron variant. While each country is entitled to put in place measures to protect its citizens. Nigeria has similar responsibilities.

“However, based on existing relationships, Nigeria has initiated diplomatic steps to make these countries reverse their course. This is on-going in the interest of all parties concerned and we expect that positive results would emerge within the next one week”.

In response to a question by a reporter, he insisted that if the UK authorities refused to delist Nigeria from the red list, the PSC “would come together as one house and decide the next step to take in the interest of our country”.

The UK had put Nigeria on the Red List after tracing 21 of the Omicron cases in the country to passengers, who had travelled from Nigeria.

Mustapha also said the PSC has in addition evaluated the developments on the relationship between Nigeria and the UAE.

He insisted that the decision to reduce other number of frequencies of Emirates Airlines to Lagos and Abuja was in line with established ICAO Protocols and the spirit of the BASA signed with the UAE. He said the country’s sovereignty remained sacrosanct, adding that mutual respects shall be its guiding principle, as much as it should be in the best interest of the country.

He said the PSC has escalated all surveillance and control measures around the country and has also ramped up vaccination of eligible citizens and residents while making provisions for booster shots for those fully vaccinated.

I another breath, the Executive Director/CEO National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuiab, has disclosed at the emergency media parley that over a million of the expired Astra Zeneca vaccines already withdrawn will be destroyed publicly by the National Agency for Food Drugs and Administration Control (NAFDAC), in line with environmental protocol at a date yet to be decided.

He said the decision to destroy the vaccine publicly would assure Nigerians that there was no intention to use them.