The Guardian (Nigeria)

Expert kicks against health certificat­e for travellers into Nigeria

Says policy adds nothing to efforts to stop COVID- 19

- By Chukwuma Muanya

DESPITE relaxation of COVID- 19 protocols by many countries, to ease internatio­nal travel, including compulsory requiremen­t of COVID- 19 passport/ health certificat­e, Nigeria is still demanding the document for inbound travellers.

Reacting, Chairman, Ministeria­l Committee on COVID- 19 and foremost virologist, Prof. Oyewole Tomori, told The Guardian, yesterday: “Please, help us get the Presidenti­al Steering Committee on COVID- 19 ( PSC) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control ( NCDC) to cancel the outdated requiremen­t of uploading health certificat­e before you can enter Nigeria.”

Tomori, who is the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, said the requiremen­t makes Nigeria, perhaps, the only country still asking for the document.

He said besides unnecessar­y delay and opportunit­y for fraudulent practices, the requiremen­t is useless, adding nothing to efforts to stop importatio­n of COVID19 into the country.

He said: “The ‘ staring’ ( pun on steering) committee and the NCDC have combined to generate a new variant, called ‘ Comatose. Limbo’, leaving Nigerians helpless and confused over COVID- 19. Is it over? Is it still there? Do we need to continue vaccinatio­n?

“Election is not the only thing going on in Nigeria. We are still reeling from the repercussi­ons of the last election. Please, help us wake up the NCDC and the ‘ staring’ committee to come out of the 19th century and remove the obnoxious, time wasting, fraud encouragin­g requiremen­t to upload the NCDC health certificat­e for travellers coming to Nigeria.”

Tomori added: “They should communicat­e better with the public on issues of public interest.”

But a source at the NCDC told The Guardian: “We are using the Nigeria

Internatio­nal Travel Portal ( NITP) as a surveillan­ce tool for other infectious diseases. We are using informatio­n from this platform for Point of Entry ( POE) surveillan­ce of the ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in Uganda.

“Retaining the NITP for multiple infectious disease surveillan­ce is a positive step by Nigeria, and it keeps us ahead of many other countries in our POE surveillan­ce. We only require people to be honest in completing the form. It takes only a few minutes and there are no charges.”

The source said the PSC on COVID- 19 is currently reviewing protocols and procedures, adding: “The updated protocols will be shared very soon.”

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