Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has described the decision of the British Government to add Nigeria on its Red List as ‘’unjust, unfair, punitive, indefensible and discriminatory.’’
He added that the decision is ‘’not driven by science.’’
Alhaji Mohammed made this known in a press briefing in Abuja.
He questioned the decision of the British government saying the new Covid-19 variant in Nigeria has less than 24 infections.
‘’How do you slam this kind of discriminatory action on a country of 200 million people, just because of less than two dozen cases,’’ the visibly angry minister asked.According to him, allowing British citizens and residents to come in from Nigeria and banning non-residents from the same country is biased.‘’Why won't Britain allow people in both categories to come in, and be subjected to the same conditions of testing and quarantine,’’ He queried.
The minister believes that slamming African countries with travel bans is a ‘’knee-jerk reaction that can only be detrimental to our quest to most conclusively tackle this pandemic.’’
He noted that ‘’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 based on race, religion, political belief, economic or any other social condition.’’
He further stated that the Presidential Steering Committee has reviewed its International Travel Protocol with a view to ‘’reducing the risk of importation and exportation of COVID-19, especially the variants of concern.’’
Thereafter, Lai Mohammed asked that the British Government reviews its decision insisting that “Nigeria does not belong on any country’s Red List.”
‘’Nigeria has handled the Covid-19 pandemic with utmost responsibility and based on science, and has rightly earned global accolades for its efforts,’’ he added.
