Sequel to the outrage that greeted the recent actions of the United Kingdom against Nigeria following the outbreak of OMICRON, a new variant of COVID-19, some retired diplomats have described these actions as repercussions for Nigeria’s failure to handle the pandemic responsibly and live up to the expectations of the international community.
The OMICRON variant was said to have originated from South Africa but was soon afterwards detected among some Nigerians travelling overseas. In a swift reaction, the United Kingdom placed Nigeria on its red list of countries, and subsequently banned all flights from Nigeria.
In response, the Federal Government of Nigeria accused the UK of discrimination and imposing travel apartheid on a supposed ally while some analysts expressed concerns that the issue might trigger a diplomatic row between both countries.
President, Association of Foreign Relations Professionals of Nigeria (AFRPN), Ambassador Gani Lawal, a former Nigerian Deputy Principal Representative in Algeria, has however disagreed with the position taken by the Federal Government, saying it ought not to blame anyone but itself for its ordeal.
He disclosed that Nigeria was not originally on the red list but that the country dragged herself into it due to certain actions and inactions of the government of the day, adding that “I don’t want to be unnecessarily defensive. We brought it on ourselves. We were not on the list initially but our handling of the matter when some Nigerians were found to have it in Canada was responsible.
“These include slow response and no action taken. The delegation of the South African president’s recent visit should also have been pruned down to the barest minimum,” he said.
Lawal ruled out the possibility of the matter snowballing into a diplomatic rift. He said that the pandemic was a global problem and that every country is trying to protect its citizens from harm. According to him, diplomatic relations are usually underpinned by the self-interest of each country, adding that in times like this, leaders want to be seen as doing much for their people.
The diplomat however expressed optimism the little rift would be resolved as soon as both sides realised that there were some hidden implications. “I believe the British will soon find a way around it if they get to know how much it hurts them. It is equally a pain on the neck of the British if they realise what they will lose.
“An average of 480 thousand pounds goes into the British economy everyday with their two flights daily carrying 240 passengers from Nigeria and each Nigerian spending an average of 1000 pounds,” he said.
Also speaking, a former Charge d’ Affaires for the Embassy of Nigeria in The Hague, Netherlands and one time Consul General of Nigeria in Atlanta, Georgia, Ambassador Joe Keshi, has also faulted those condemning the United Kingdom for taking actions against Nigeria as a result of OMICRON outbreak.
Keshi said that though African leaders and some friends of Africa may have some justifications in complaining about the swift actions of the UK and some other western nations against African countries when scientists were yet to fully understand the full manifestations of the OMICRON variant, those countries cannot be blamed for taking precautionary measures to save their citizens.
He observed that the travel bans have created panic across the world even when there were still controversies trailing the new variant in terms of whether it was more deadly and more easily transmissible than the earlier variants of the disease.
“You can’t condemn these countries for taking actions to protect their people. Every leader was elected to protect the interest of the citizens of their countries. You can’t blame them because they acted based on their previous experiences at the first outbreak of COVID-19 when China delayed in reporting what was going on, and before anybody could do anything, the disease had spread all over the world. “I don’t think that what the UK has done is discriminatory.
“We should realise the number of people that died in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and other parts of the world as a result of the first wave which took the world by surprise,” he said.
Keshi faulted the slow and inadequate response of Nigeria to the announcement by Canada that two Nigerians, who travelled to that country were found to have contracted OMICRON. He recalled that days after the announcement, Nigeria was silent only to admit later that the OMICRON variant had actually been detected in Nigeria earlier on October 21.
He said that contrary to the accusation by some commentators, UK and the rest of the western world were not executing apartheid in the distribution of vaccines but had rather being magnanimous in sharing vaccines with Africa through various donor channels.
“There is nothing like vaccine apartheid. These countries invested in the research and development of the vaccines. They have also shared the vaccines with us. Do you blame them for producing and sharing with you or you should blame your leaders, who could not even develop the necessary capacity to preserve and administer the vaccines donated to us?,” he said.
(New Telegraph)
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