Omicron variant: Nigerians react to removal of country from UK red list

The lifting of traveling restriction on travelers from Nigeria and ten African countries from a red list over the outbreak and spread of Coronavirus' new variant, Omicron has continued to generate reaction among Nigerians.

The UK had on December 5 placed Nigeria among a red list of countries where travelers except Britons were not allowed to fly in from.

A medical expert in Lagos, Doctor Casmir Ifeanyi says instead of blacklisting countries, measures should be put in place to stem the spread of the variant.

He said citizens should be educated on the need to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“Rather than red listing Nigeria, one would have expected that the British government, the UK as a developed country with capacity in this area would find intervention programs, means of building capacity and ability to detect is a key evaluation point in global health response so our capacity as African countries to detect is still very low" Dr Ifeanyi said.

In Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre many residents have described the listing of Nigeria in the United Kingdom red list as discriminatory. It is "wrong to treat Nigerians or Africans that way” a resident said.

As of Tuesday December 14, when the United Kingdom removed Nigeria from its Red List, the west African country had recorded 11 cases of Covid from the Omicron Variant.