Travel News

By Nike Adebowale

"We have gone ahead to ensure that that their passports are suspended so for every action there are consequences,"

The Nigerian government has suspended the passports of 2,000 travellers who failed to undergo the mandatory arrival quarantine and other protocols after returning into the country.

The National Incident Manager (NIM) of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC), Mukhtar Muhammad, disclosed this at the committee's briefing on Monday.

Mr Muhammad said the government had insisted that passengers who arrive into the country, especially from high risk countries, must quarantine in a facility provided by the government.

He said the passports of those who failed to follow the protocol have been suspended for one year, meaning they cannot legally travel out of Nigeria within that period.

"We have included the provision of quarantine for passengers who arrived from these high risk countries and people who evade these protocols have been penalised by publishing their names as well as by suspending their passports for one year.

"And we have gone ahead to ensure that their passports are suspended. So, for every action there are consequences," he said.

Protocols

The PSC on May 1 issued a Travel Advisory for passengers arriving in Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey.

These precautionary measures were described as a necessary step to mitigate the risk of importation of COVID-19 variants of concern and break the chain of transmission to the population, according to the chairman of the PSC, Boss Mustapha.

Under the measures, passengers arriving from/or that have visited any of the three countries within 14 days prior to their visit to Nigeria, were required to follow mandatory arrival quarantine and testing protocols in designated facilities.

But many passengers failed to observe the compulsory isolation or present themselves for the PCR repeat test on day seven, the government said.

The PSC had previously published the names and passport numbers of defaulters.

By Omeiza Ajayi

THE Federal  Government, yesterday, vowed to probe some airport officials who continue to extort inbound international travelers with a view to helping them evade quarantine in the wake of the resurgence of COVID-19.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee PSC on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha disclosed this during briefing of the committee.

He said: “The PSC has taken note of the challenges raised by travelers that visit the National International Travel Portal in compliance with travel protocols. It has similarly noted with dismay, fraudulent activities perpetuated at our international airports by on-duty staff, who extort money out of those who also wish to evade quarantine requirement. The authorities are conducting necessary investigation in to various reports received.

“The PSC has observed that caution is needed rather than over-confidence and that there is a decline of suspicion index among doctors.

“To slide into complacency can be very fatal, hence the need for serious caution and adherence to the non-pharmaceutical intervention measures, vaccination and protocols on self-isolation. The coronavirus is still very much around us and it is virulent and deadly.”

The SGF added that notable progress is still being made in the area of vaccine, explaining that over 3.5 million doses of Pfizer is being expected from the United States Government this month while about four million doses of Astrazeneca is being expected early next month.

“Nigeria will be receiving over 1m doses of J&J shipments on a monthly basis. The PSC is committed to access enough vaccines for the 70 per cent eligible persons in the country in record time”, he added.

Mustapha also announced Dr Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa as the newly-appointed Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, who will be taking over from Dr. Chikwe Iheakwazu from 1st November, 2021.

On his part, Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib said as of September 26 about 4,734,769 eligible people in Nigeria have received their first dose of COVID vaccine.

He said: “This comprises  3,040,000 with first dose AstraZeneca and 1,694,769 with the first dose of Moderna. This represents 4.2% of the 111,776,503 eligible populations who are targeted to receive full doses of the vaccines for Nigeria to reach herd immunity. Out of the total vaccinated, 1,892,092 eligible persons have received their second dose of which 1,825,739 have been fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca while 66,353 eligible persons have been fully vaccinated with Moderna.”

On the issue of vaccine card racketeering, Dr Shuaib said: “Buying and selling of COVID-19 vaccines and cards is a criminal offence in Nigeria. The Federal Government of Nigeria has provided these vaccines free of charge to all eligible persons. The officer in charge of every designated health facility would be held accountable for every vaccination card and QR code. These must match the quantities of vaccines and devices provided.”

The number of Nigeria-trained nurses on the register of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of the United Kingdom (UK) rose by 54.4 percent to 4,310 in March 2021, the highest in five years, compared with 2,792 in March 2017.

The rise in the number of Nigerian nurses migrating to the UK can be attributed to the cheap and easy entry migration requirements of the country facing shortage of nurses.

This growing migration of nurses who serve as a critical function in the healthcare system could further lead to negative consequences for Nigeria’s struggling health sector that do not have enough nurses to cater for its expanding population.

Jennifer Oyelade, director of Transquisite Consulting, a UK and Nigerian registered Recruitment and Training Consultancy, says Nigeria will have fewer nurses available to take care of its citizens in the health sector because the country is losing its talented nurses to an economy that is willing to pay more and give them a better living quality.

“The truth is Nigerians are being trained in Nigeria and by the time they do their conversion to be a registered nurse in the UK, they will be paid more and their quality of life will be better,” Oyelade states.

The primary role of nurses makes them the most important part of the healthcare system, as they are always with the patient at every stage of the care process, tending to them, counselling the ill and improving healthcare processes.

In 2020, Nigeria had 1.2 nurses and midwives and 0.4 physicians for every 1,000 inhabitants, slightly higher than the sub-Saharan African average but worse than many of its regional peers such as Ghana, Namibia, and Zambia, as well as structural and aspirational peer countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

Nursing shortages lead to errors, higher morbidity and mortality rates. According to the World Bank, Nigeria has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world with 117 deaths per 1,000 live births.

“The health sector will be in shambles because many quack nurses will enter the profession. Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system. They are the ones that take care of patients. So, when they are now less it will affect the system,” Okechukwu Ekemezie, a medical doctor, says.

UK has always faced a severe shortage of healthcare workers, especially in its National Healthcare System (NHS) due to an aging population, and increasing cases of chronic and lifestyle diseases. But the COVID-19 pandemic heightened its shortages.

Read Also: Nigerian nurses fleeing to UK hit 4yr high

NHS vacancy statistics for UK show that, as of June 2021 there were 38,952 registered nurse vacancies across the health service. This figure reflects a 12 percent increase from 34,678 in March 2021, and a rise of 3 percent from June 2020 (37,760).

Also, data from The King’s Fund state that the UK has a lower number of doctors and nurses compared with other European countries. In the UK, there is one doctor for every 356 people. In contrast, in other similarly developed countries, there is one doctor for every 277 people.

These shortages have been on the front burner for the UK’s successive governments, making the country a net importer of healthcare professionals.

In 2020, the new Conservative government pledged to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 over the next five years, and offered additional cost of living support of £5,000.

Last year, the UK announced a Health and Care Visa policy. This visa policy aims to make it cheaper, quicker and easier for healthcare professionals to come go to the UK.

“I am not surprised because this year alone, about 6,000 nurses and 355 doctors have left the country in the last 100 days. The recruitment requirements are lower for nurses. If you don’t put value in something, people will leave,” Steve Ahubelem, a medical officer at the General Hospital – Ibeju-Lekki, states.

In a recent tweet, @jajaPhD, a Nigerian self-funded MSc student of nursing, decided to take up a Msc course as it would guarantee him higher chances of getting a job as a nurse.

“My friend advised me to take a detour – study nursing so that I’m guaranteed a job, work for a few years to repay my loan, and then return to study whatever I really wanted when the stakes are not so high. It was the single most valuable advice I received in 2018,” he tweeted.

“The UK government is looking for nurses to take care of the influx of patients that they have,” Oyelade says.

Nigeria’s intellectual capability in its medical profession has projected the country into the limelight. Outstanding individuals such as Oluyinka Olutoye, Joseph Ladapo, Njideka Udochi, Onyema Ogbuagu, etc, have worked hard to distinguish themselves and have earned the respect of their contemporaries in countries such as the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Europe, etc.

In 2016, Olutoye, a renowned fetal and paediatric Nigeria born surgeon successfully operated on a baby-in-utero. For this ground-breaking feat, he was appointed surgeon-in-chief at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the US. He now leads one of the largest children’s hospital surgery departments in the world.

Udochi is a graduate of medicine from the University of Nigeria with over 33 years’ experience. The Nigerian-born physician became the very first black female to emerge Family Physician of the Year in Maryland, United States. This award was bestowed on her by the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians (MDAFP) in 2021.

Another exceptional medical practitioner is Ogbuagu. He is an associate professor of medicine in the clinician-educator track and director of the HIV clinical trials programme of the Yale AIDS Programme, Section of Infectious Diseases of the Yale School of Medicine. He was recently recognised as one of the researchers instrumental in the creation of the Pfizer vaccine for the infamous COVID-19 virus.

On Wednesday, Florida Governor’s Ron DeSantis appointed Ladapo as Florida Surgeon General and Secretary of the Florida Department of Health. He is a physician and health policy researcher whose primary research interests include clinical trial interventions and reducing the population burden of cardiovascular disease.

(Bloomberg) -- A high-altitude, long-endurance drone that can fly for around 20 hours and reach top speeds of 700 kilometers an hour (435 miles an hour) was one of the flying gadgets unveiled at Airshow China 2021 in the southern city of Zhuhai on Tuesday.

Developed by Aerospace CH UAV Co., the CH-6 drone is aimed at high-end arms use while its long flying range means it could be used for a variety of military and civilian missions.

It can also carry out anti-submarine missions, maritime patrols, early warning missions and close-range air support, China’s Global Times said.

CH UAV also showcased another series of its CH drones, the CH-817 mini-attack drone, which is much smaller and which can be carried by individual soldiers or released from a bigger drone. That one weighs about 800 grams and has a flying time of about 15 minutes.

“We can call it a flying grenade,” the company’s chief engineer and designer of the CH drone series, Shi Wen, was quoted as saying.

There wasn’t any immediate indication as to which governments the company might try to sell either unmanned aerial vehicle.

BY  Tara Patel, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Demand for airplane-seat coverings that repel viruses and bacteria has soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, as carriers look to cut the time and cost of cleaning cabins. 

“The stakes are high for airlines,” said Quentin Munier, head of strategy and innovation at the seat division of aircraft-parts giant Safran SA. Tenders for new orders increasingly call for fabrics with virus-killing properties, he said.

The airline industry has been among the hardest hit by Covid-19 and most carriers have adopted strict health protocols on mask-wearing and cabin cleaning to cut transmission, reassure passengers and revive travel. Industry lobby International Air Transport Association has published a 32-page document on how to scrub the inside of aircraft.

“Airlines are cleaning now, but that’s what they want to reduce,” Munier said. A carrier that managed eight daily rotations on a given route before the pandemic can now do only six because of time-consuming disinfection procedures, he said.

Safran, based in Paris, is conducting tests with hospitals on the efficacy of fabrics into which so-called biocides have been integrated during manufacturing, he said. Another possibility is the use of sprays that can be applied to existing seats and last between six months and a year. 

These could lighten some of the procedures between flights and add a new dimension to the roughly $4.2 billion jet-seat market.  

IATA recommends using a vacuum cleaner to remove loose particles from fabric seat covers, and wiping and drying those made of leather-like coverings. It also advises the removal of visible stains or else changing a fabric, and that belts and buckles also be cleaned and disinfected.   

(Bloomberg) --

U.K. drivers are queuing for fuel in scenes that are reminiscent of the 1970s, creating a national crisis out of something that what was initially a relatively minor logistics problem. 

The government has responded by enacting the Downstream Oil Protocol - exempting industry from competition law - and putting military tanker drivers on standby. Other measures, like making 5,000 short-term visas available for foreign drivers and encouraging retired U.K. drivers to return to work, aren’t expected to provide a quick solution.

Here are five big questions being asked about the crisis on the web.

Where can I buy fuel right now?

It’s a fast-changing situation. The country’s main sellers are saying nothing of substance about availability, other than that they are working hard to sort it out and that it’s changing from one moment to the next, and from one location to the next. Their main advice is to go back to normal buying behavior as this will allow them to get services back up and running normally again sooner.

When will fuel crisis end?

Fuel companies and the government keep saying that there is no shortage, just a bottleneck in getting it from refineries and storage sites to filling stations. Things could return to normal within a few days, especially if the military drivers are used to increase the number of deliveries. It does depend on how fast drivers go back to their normal buying patterns, which will be affected by how much they have in their tanks.

What is the fuel competition law?

There isn’t a specific law for competition in the fuel supply industry, but it comes under the Competition Act 1998. That prevents companies colluding, including sharing information, to reduce competitive behavior. These restrictions have been eased temporarily for the companies delivering and selling road fuels. This is to enable them to share information on where they are making deliveries so that they can coordinate nationally and avoid all of them delivering fuel to the same part of the country and leaving other parts short of supply.

Can the army help?

Yes. Using military drivers to carry fuel to civilian service stations is one of the tools at the government’s disposal for dealing with the crisis. A 2017 document published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, setting out proposals to strengthen the resilience of fuel supply to U.K. consumers, identified using military tanker drivers to maintain fuel deliveries as “a last resort.” The U.K. government has now put military drivers on standby.

Does fuel expire?

It does degrade over time, but can be kept in proper tanks for many months. But, please, don’t stockpile gallons and gallons of fuel in jerry cans in your spare bedroom. Leakage of highly flammable vapors poses a serious risk of explosion and death. Speaking of storage, fuel isn’t toilet paper: the space to store it is far more finite -- something that will also infuence when this crisis ends.

(Bloomberg) --

United Airlines Holdings Inc. expanded its reach to southern African destinations like Madagascar, Mozambique and Victoria Falls, inking a code-share agreement with a growing local carrier. 

The deal with closely held SA Airlink Pty Ltd. adds connections to more than 40 African locations for travelers from the U.S. It’s the latest sign of a reopening of international travel in the region following the coronavirus pandemic.

“United continues to demonstrate our commitment to Africa, starting three brand-new flights to the continent this year alone,” Patrick Quayle, vice president of international network and alliances at United, said in a statement Tuesday.

Airlink is bidding to fill a void left by national carrier South African Airways, which recently emerged from bankruptcy proceedings and is flying to limited destinations. Airlink, known before the pandemic as a way to get from Johannesburg to small towns dotted around the country, signed a similar deal with Gulf giant Emirates in August. 

United plans to start flights from Washington to Nigeria and Ghana later this year, the carrier said, alongside a route between New York and Johannesburg. The company also has a code-share with SAA through the Star Alliance.  

By Deji Elumoye and Juliet Akoje

The Senate has resolved to investigate allegations of fake COVID-19 test result to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians in Ghana and the use of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards in Nigeria.

The decision to investigate the allegation against the Ghanaian authorities taken at Tuesday plenary of the Red Chamber was sequel to the adoption of a motion, following numerous allegations and complaints made by Nigerian travellers isolated at Ghanaian isolation facilities.

The motion titled, “Urgent need to conduct investigation on allegation of fake COVID-19 test results being used to defraud Nigerians in Ghana and the obtainment of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards”, was sponsored by Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe, who recalled that the COVID-19 infection was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2020.

According to him, while the global roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations continues to accelerate, only around one per cent of the world’s population have received their full course of injections.

He noted that there is a serious allegation that the Ghanaian authorities are diagnosing Nigerians who travel to their country of testing positive for Covid-19 even after testing negative in Nigeria.

He further observed that the Ghanaian authorities, usually commit Nigerians who visit their country to isolation for two weeks and are made to pay about N70,000 per day.

“Also observed that this allegation was exposed by a Nigerian artiste, who was told in Ghana that he had Covid-19 even after testing negative at a Nigerian facility in Nigeria. He rejected the result and insisted that it was a fake result. He was deported and kicked out of Ghana by the authorities and proceeded to New York in the United States, where his test result on arrival came out negative.

“Worried that Nigerians travelling to Ghana or through Ghana lamented that they are made to pay almost N1 million while in isolation.

“Further worried that most of the Nigerians travelling to Ghana or through Ghana have alleged that the Ghanaian authorities have made them targets for the purpose of making money.

“Concerned that if this allegation is not properly investigated and addressed, the exploitation will continue, thereby unlawfully taking away the resources of Nigerians in this global economic recession; and

“Worried that if the allegation of people obtaining and using fake Covid-19 vaccination cards to travel is not debunked, it may have negative consequence for Nigerians with genuine Covid-19 vaccination cards from travelling outside the country.”

According to him, “Billions are still waiting for their first dose, which inevitably leads those people to question exactly when they will get it, especially as plans are being made internationally to allow those that have been vaccinated, or can prove they have had a recent negative test, the freedom to travel to other countries, attend large-scale events, take a new job, and more;

“Noted also that there’s a strong and growing demand for vaccinations and test results because of the greater freedoms they will give to people. Also, there will always be people who don’t want to wait for their official vaccination, or for an official negative test result – and shady people willing to service that demand.”

The senator also prevailed on the upper chamber to investigate another allegation on the United Kingdom’s refusal to acknowledge the vaccination cards and test results issued to travellers by facilities in Nigeria.

Accordingly, the Red Chamber, in its resolution, directed its Committees on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), Primary Health and Communicable Diseases and Foreign Affairs headed by Senators Yahaya Oloriegbe, Chukwuka Utazi and Adamu Bulkachuwa respectively to conduct detailed investigations into the allegations.

(Bloomberg) -- A new air-traffic computer tool that untangles congested airport taxiways saved hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel during tests and is expected to be installed across major U.S. airports starting next year. 

The Federal Aviation Administration plans to add the system at 27 busy hubs in coming years, the agency said Tuesday in a joint announcement with NASA, which helped develop the technology. 

“The future of flight must be more sustainable and environmentally friendly,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, a former airline pilot, said in the release. “This new capability has a double benefit: It reduces aircraft emissions and ensures air travelers experience more on-time departures.”

The Terminal Flight Data Manager is designed to address the significant portion of flight delays that occur on the ground as airliners line up to depart from busy airports, often waiting for significant periods of time while engines inefficiently idle. 

Instead of allowing planes to depart from airport gates on a first-come, first-served basis, the new system will instruct controllers when individual planes should push back. The goal is to have the shortest runway cue possible, allowing for efficient use of busy runways while minimizing the time that planes must wait. 

The system -- which operates by merging data from airlines, airports and air-traffic systems -- has been tested at Charlotte Douglas International and Dallas/Fort Worth International. 

The tests in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is a major hub for American Airlines Group Inc., reduced taxi times and saved more than 275,000 gallons (1,041,000 liters) of jet fuel annually, according to FAA. The agency estimated it resulted in a reduction of eight tons a day in carbon emissions. 

Airports scheduled to get the system include all of the biggest U.S. facilities, including Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, Chicago O’Hare and all three of New York City’s: John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty.

BY  Stephen Agwaibor

The Federal Government has imposed a travel ban on no fewer than 2,000 Nigerians and foreigners, restricting their movement in and out of the country.

This was disclosed the National Incident Manager of the Presidential Steering Committee, Mukhtar Muhammad, at a briefing in Abuja.

A statement from the PSC on COVID-19 said it had banned more than 2,000 Nigerians and foreigners from travelling out and into the country for one year for evading the coronavirus Polymerase Chain Reaction test at the country’s international airports.

Muhammad revealed that the names of over 2,000 citizens and foreigners had been shared across major federal medical facilities in the country where medical experts were assigned to give care to Nigerians and foreigners that had travelled into the country during the COVID-19 third wave.

He said the government had warned passengers arriving into the country from high-risk countries to quarantine in a government-provided facility, adding that the passports of those who failed to comply with the protocol had been suspended for one year.