By Emmanuel Nduka
A former Presidential aspirant and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, has advised African countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, to issue reciprocal travel restrictions on the United Kingdom, and other Western nations that have placed them on their red list due to the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had recently designated the omicron variant as a variant of concern.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had last week announced that the country had reported three cases of the variant.
In moves that have now sparked condemnation from African leaders, the UK and Canadian Governments had announced travel restrictions on Nigeria and other African countries. The UK Government also suspended all pending visa applications in Nigeria.
Reacting to this, Moghalu wrote, “Nigeria and other African countries such as South Africa should issue reciprocal restrictions or bans on any Western countries that restrict or ban travel by Africans because of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“It’s unconscionable to subject Africans to restrictions because of a variant that did not originate from the continent when Western countries with similar or more cases are not subject to similar restrictions.”
“This is more than public health. It’s about worldviews in international relations. Our dignity matters. Our leaders should protect it instead of as is the case with Nigeria today, travelling around the world with a begging bowl for foreign assistance,” he added.
