By Dodoh Okafor
You saw it in a viral video shared by Brekete Family Programme on Human Rights Radio Abuja. His name is Ndubuisi Ekwulonu. He is a Nigerian visiting the country from Sweden. Like thousands of people coming into the country from different parts of the world daily, he was asked to go for a COVID-19 test from his base before boarding a flight to Nigeria.
He complied.
On getting to Nigeria, he was again issued an invoice for another round of COVID-19 test. Without any argument, he forked out N42, 750 and paid.
Strangely, this was where his ugly experience started.
Ndubuisi was required to undergo his COVID-19 test at a medical facility in either Maitama or Wuse areas of Abuja. He chose to use the laboratory in Maitama since according to him, it was closer to him.
But lo and behold, he was directed to a facility at EMAB plaza, Wuse 2. He got to a laboratory at EMAB Plaza and was thrown out as the officials insisted that they had no idea what he was talking about. The returnee was directed to Thisday Dome in Central Business District.
On getting to the venue he was asked to take his enquiries to the Federal Ministry of Health. At the ministry he was met with nonchalance and high level administrative incompetence. He wasted an entire day at the place and when he returned the next day, he was asked to pay another N42, 750 if he wants the test done.
According to him, he complied and had his test samples taken. 24 hours later, the Sweden based Nigerian got another message from the health officials informing him that he was still required to pay for another test. He is due to fly back to his base on Saturday.
Can you now get a sense of his frustration? How many lab tests is he required to undergo for COVID1-19 in a space of one week?
Ndubuisi’s story is not an isolated one. Another Nigerian who also flew in from London and landed at the Abuja airport also shared his story.
Like Ndubuisi, he also submitted himself for a COVID-19 test in the UK before boarding an Ethiopian Airways flight to Nigeria. He made a few stops in some airports before landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja.
It was only when he got here that he was faced with harassments from officials mandating him to go for another round of tests- even after he had uploaded his previous test result in an internet portal as directed by the government.
The traveller paid the mandatory fee but expressed concern that he was asked to go for another round of tests in a laboratory that operates only in Abuja, Lagos and Kano.
Pray, does it make any sense for a man travelling to the eastern part of the country perhaps on holiday to face the endless horror (remember the state of our roads) of travelling thousands of miles to undertake a laboratory test that could have been done at the airport if the officials were actually sincere?
ROOTSTV NIGERIA spoke to a business tycoon who recently visited Ghana and the UK. He disclosed that he faced the same hurdle when he returned to the country two weeks back.
According to him, what you find in Nigeria does not exist anywhere else in the world.
He narrated that what happens in Ghana is that the minute you arrive, you are taken to a quiet corner where you pay and have your samples taken by public health officials. By the time you clear with Customs and Immigration and return for your luggage, your tests results are handed over to you.
If it is negative, you proceed on your journey and if positive, they direct you on self quarantine measures to take there and then. He said that there are no frustrating protocols.
In London, the process is simple and straight.
You are simply required to provide your journey and contact details and then place yourself on voluntary self isolation for fourteen days. There are strict penalties that come with violating this requirement. The system is so strict that the officials can constantly trace and sanction you if you attempt to play smart.
Now compare what obtains in these two countries in different hemisphere with the stories recently shared by two international travellers coming into Nigeria.
How for example does NCDC or any official of the health ministry trace the guy who paid N42, 750 at the airport but quietly sneaked into his village in the east? Does NCDC follow up on these travellers as the officials in the UK do?
Even more importantly, we have to ask at this point: if in Ghana you can do your COVID-19 tests at the airport and get your result at the luggage claims area, why then are travellers coming into Nigeria from Abuja directed to a laboratory in Kano to have their tests?
Why do they even have to go to Maitama or Jabi? Why does Nigeria constantly run against common sense and intelligent logic?
Perhaps it is about time we asked if NCDC has turned itself into another money-making, accountability-dreading agency or a public health organisation set up to protect our people from life threatening diseases?
How about the PTF? What really is the work of the taskforce? To make periodic public appearances and turn back to behave in a way that makes mockery of everything they said? Remember Abba Kyari’s burial and how these same officials violated the very same protocols they enacted?
Why does this government constantly shame itself? Must these officials exploit our compatriots and visitors into the country simply because we want to enrich the private coffers of some individuals?
At what point do we say enough is enough?
