The Director of Public Affairs, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Dr. James Odaudu, has reacted to the news that the United Kingdom will remove Nigeria and other 10 countries from the red list.
Why it matters?
On the 5th of December, the UK announced it was including Nigeria on a list of countries with travel restrictions into the country as a preventive measure to fight the Omicron Variant.
President Muhammadu Buhari and other well-meaning citizens condemned this act. The FG later threatened to ban flights from the UK into Nigeria as a retaliatory move. The UK seems to have succumbed to the pressure by saying Nigeria and other countries that make up the red list would be removed.
While Dr Jamed Odauda described this as a “welcome development”, he also said that Nigeria has not received an official notice from the UK.
While speaking at the UK parliament on Tuesday, Sajid Javid, UK health secretary, said the Omicron variant “has spread so widely across the world, hence the travel red list is now less effective”.