Says Nigeria may retaliate
The Federal Government has 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.
Recall that the UK joined 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.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, speaking at a press conference yesterday in Abuja, said Nigeria has only recorded less than two dozen of the variant, which did not originate from Nigeria, hence the decision is not justifiable and not driven by science.
The Minister added that 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 cant 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 based on race, religion, political belief, economic or any other social condition, Mohammed emphasised.
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 countrys red list, he added.
