No to repatriation of Nigerians abroad

The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to thread with caution. Its proposed repatriation plan to bring back home stranded Nigerians could end up exacerbating the coronavirus crisis in the country. With more than 200 confirmed cases and, at least, five deaths, Nigeria’s fight against the coronavirus is far from over. If even the best […]

The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to thread with caution. Its proposed repatriation plan to bring back home stranded Nigerians could end up exacerbating the coronavirus crisis in the country. With more than 200 confirmed cases and, at least, five deaths, Nigeria’s fight against the coronavirus is far from over.

If even the best healthcare systems around the world have been overwhelmed by this contagion, then I wonder how the largely poor healthcare system in Nigeria is going to cope in case of a spike in COVID-19 cases. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), with its modest resources and manpower, is already overstretched. So let’s be honest with ourselves, we can’t afford an Italian-like surge in the number of coronavirus infections.

Again, as we’ve seen in China – which has almost beaten the virus – imported cases of the coronavirus remains a major problem, as authorities there warn it could lead to the second wave of infections.

So, if the ministry is adamant on bringing home Nigerians, then it must ensure that they are all subjected to a compulsory quarantine of at least two weeks because we already know that returnees in the past had not only filled wrong information at the airports but had also flouted the self-isolation directive issued by the Ministry of Health. We cannot afford a repeat of that.

It’s high time we prevented the possibility of new imported cases. The majority should not suffer because of the stupidity of a few. To help health workers fight this outbreak effectively, we all need to play a part in flattening the coronavirus curve!

Labaran Yusuf, Jos, Plateau State.