Pulse Voices: Nigeria should ban flights from Coronavirus-hit countries, says policy analyst

Unlike many of its African neighbours, Nigeria has no plans to ban flights from countries worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly three months after coronavirus (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan, China, the virus has spread into over 100 countries around the world.

Over 180,000 infections and at least 7,000 deaths have been recorded worldwide, causing a global panic that has disrupted the world’s economy.

To contain the spread, many countries have either issued lock-down orders of their territories or banned flights from countries that have been hardest-hit by the pandemic.

Countries like the United States, Turkey, South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Gabon, Burundi, and many others have all imposed travel restrictions.

This has led to increased pressure on the Nigerian government to impose a similar restriction even though the country currently has one confirmed case of coronavirus. The second confirmed case has recovered and was discharged last week.

Nigeria has not recorded any deaths from the coronavirus pandemic that has hit many countries around the world [Reuters]

The Federal Government has announced that it currently has no plans to issue restrictions because there is no need.

For PulseVoices, Rosemary Enemuo, a senior analyst at SBM Intelligence, disagrees with the government’s position. Here’s what she has to say:

"The country has recorded a low number of coronavirus cases. As the global reaction to the pandemic continues to grow, it is clear that the virus outbreak - which has precipitated lockdowns of entire regions in places like China, Iran and Italy - is having much more of an economic impact.

"For example, the number of visa-on-arrival issuance at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammad International Airport has dropped by 39.8% in one month since the onset of the outbreak.

"While there are clear economic consequences to shutting down much of the air traffic coming into the country, it is uncertain that we are capable of handling a spike in cases of the coronavirus, especially since the countries ‘investors’ come from the most - the U.S., China, and the U.K. are dealing with mounting coronavirus cases.

"Therefore, it is necessary to control the inflow of passenger traffic into the country. Besides the aviation industry in Nigeria as at 2019 contributed 0.14% to Nigeria's GDP, a relatively 'insignificant' economic contributor.

"Countries like Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, and Namibia have placed bans on flights from countries hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak; one would still wonder why the government has been quiet on doing the needful.

"The global economy is currently down with crude oil prices below $30 dollars per barrel, investors are currently letting go of shares in major companies, so investors and investments are the least reasons to keep the borders open at this time.

"Although the NCDC is doing an excellent job at keeping an eye on the situation, the same cannot be said of state hospitals and local healthcare centers that are not equipped with the necessary facilities to manage any possible outbreak of the coronavirus.

"European countries, as well as Asian countries where the virus is most rampant, have restricted movement in order to prevent the continuous spread of the virus.

"In my opinion, the government is treading the risky path, leaving a country with a poor healthcare system alongside a weak economy (which investors are already fleeing from), open to the possibility of more infections coming from the outside. A flight ban is a step in the right path."

Rosemary Enemuo is a Research And Development Associate at SBM Intelligence.