The House of Representatives during its plenary on Tuesday November, 30, 2021 urged the Federal Government to urgently activate response measures against Omicron, the newest variant of the coronavirus, better known as COVID-19.
Hon. Dachung Musa Bagos representing Jos-south/Jos East Federal Constituency of Plateau who moved the motion said the recent developments were signals that Nigeria must begin to take immediate steps to stem any resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the country.
The lawmaker drew the attention of the House to the fact that Nigerians were frequent travellers and faced the risk of being denied access into other Countries if the Government does not step up the COVID-19 control measures.
He said it is important that the executive activates response mechanisms to safeguard Nigerians because this new variant is even deadlier than the Delta variant.
Rep. Henry Nwaoba, also said Nigeria must do everything within reach to ensure that it did not enter the list of Countries placed under travel restrictions by some Nations due to the Omicron variant.
Nwaoba equally raised concerns that Nigerians had generally lowered their guard on safety and protective measures because of the thinking that Nigeria did not record many deaths from COVID-19 pandemic, compared to other Countries.
Hon. Nwanoba recalled that emergencies such as the omicron variant was the reason the House introduced the Infectious Diseases bill in 2020 to give more powers to the NCDC on how to deploy urgent response measures but it was greeted with controversies which delayed in passing the bill
The House passed the motion and called on the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control to step up national response mechanisms to stem the spread of COVID-19.
Olalere Taiwo:
For Head of press:
Office of Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters
