COVID-19 Omicron: Buhari, 10 ministers jet out to Dubai
President Muhammadu Buhari, accompanied by 10 ministers, on Wednesday, travelled to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, a few hours after Nigeria recorded three cases of the new coronavirus variant named Omicron.
They were accompanied by multiple aides as well as representatives of the business community to participate in an exhibition tagged ‘EXPO 2020 Dubai’.
Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said in a statement on Wednesday that Buhari was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Health, Osagie Ehanire; Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami; Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Defence, Bashir Magashi; Aviation, Hadi Sirika and Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammad Abubakar.
Others are the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite; State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Maryam Katagum, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno; the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai and the Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
Adesina said EXPO 2020 Dubai, with the theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ created the environment for Nigeria to join over 190 countries to forge true and meaningful partnerships “To build a better future for everyone.”
Even though there was yet no international protocol barring foreign trips, some pundits and health officials wondered why the president chose to travel out with 10 ministers and other key government officials at a time they were supposed to be at home to fine-tune the national response against the new coronavirus variant.
A health official in Abuja said, “It is not wrong for the president to travel but there is time for everything. I think what is at stake deserves more attention than an exhibition in Dubai.
“We are fine here in Nigeria for now; we just recorded three cases but there is the fear of the unknown around the world…Who knows, as you can see, dozens of our leaders are going to mingle with other people out there,” he said.
A lawyer and an activist, Abubakar Sani Aliyu, said, “The president should have asked the trade minister and one or two people to go.
“It is not necessary that he must go everywhere and it is more appalling that he travelled with no fewer than ten ministers and those at the helm of the security architecture of the country.”
The Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Dr Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, said, “It is unfortunate that officials turn the overseas journey to jamboree and avenue for making money and not in the interest of the country or of the people.”
Daily Trust reports that many countries around the world were rolling out new measures among them restricting inbound passengers from some countries while working on probable lockdown to contain the spread of Omicron.
Omicron is said to be deadlier and transmissible than other COVID-19 variants.
The world is said to be in the race against time as at least 22 countries have so far recorded the variant.
The countries include South Africa with 77 cases, the United Kingdom (20), Netherlands (16), Portugal (13), Australia (7), Austria (1), Botswana (19), Brazil (2), Canada (6), Czech Republic (1), Belgium (1), Denmark (4), France (1), Germany (9), Hong Kong (4), Israel (4), Italy (9), Japan (2), Nigeria (3), Norway (2), Saudi Arabia (1), Spain (2), and Sweden 3 cases.
On November 26, 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) designated Omicron a variant of concern on the advice of its Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE).
This decision was based on the evidence presented to the committee that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes.