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The federal government have condemned the decision of the UK government to add Nigeria to its travel red list and ban foreign travels from the country describing it as unjust, unfair, punitive, indefensible and discriminatory.
The UK joins other countries including Canada to take similar action against Nigeria as a result of the discovery of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the country.
Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and Culture speaking at a press conference on Monday in Abuja, said Nigeria has only recorded less than two dozens of the variant which did not originate from Nigeria, hence the decision is not justifiable and 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 being subjected 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 travellers from Nigeria, who are neither citizens nor residents, is grossly discriminatory and punitive,” he said.
Read also: UK suspends visa applications in Nigeria
The Minister said countries should rather focus on ensuring vaccine equity rather than take “knee-jerk” reactions against Africa “that can only be detrimental to our quest to most conclusively tackle this pandemic.”
“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,” Mohammed said.
The minister, therefore, urged the British government to immediately review the decision to put Nigeria on its red list and rescind it immediately.
“Nigeria has handled the Covid-19 pandemic with utmost responsibility and based on science, and has rightly earned global accolades for its efforts. Nigeria does not belong on any country’s red list,” he added.
