COVID-19: Atiku Advices Buhari To Ban All UK Flights, Says Prevention Is Better Than Cure

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has advised the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Government to temporarily ban all flights to and from the United Kingdom as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits the world.

Atiku made this call in a statement titled: ‘An Ounce of Prevention Is Better Than a Pound of Cure’, which he signed in Abuja, on Sunday.

He explained that the reason Nigeria took a harder-than-necessary hit during the first wave was because the government failed to heed warnings of well-meaning Nigerians.

The former president further opined that Nigeria’s health sector is not sufficiently prepared to handle a sudden and unpredictable surge of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He, therefore, advised that Nigeria must take necessary precautions due to the volume of air traffic between Nigerian airports and London, adding that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

“We must face the reality that our health sector is not sufficiently prepared to handle a sudden and unpredictable surge of this pandemic. We have already lost lives needlessly. We need not lose more.

“Already, prudent nations are taking prompt action, and Nigeria must take necessary precautions, due to the volume of air traffic between Nigerian airports and London, where this new strain has erupted.

“The reason Nigeria took a harder than necessary hit during the first wave of the COVID-19 virus is that the Federal Government failed to heed the warnings of well-meaning Nigerians, like myself and others, to shut down our borders once the virus became a pandemic.

“Hindsight is 20/20. Nevertheless, we must learn from history or we stand the risk of repeating it.

“The new strain of COVID19 that has erupted in the United Kingdom, and specifically, London, can add to Nigeria’s health emergency if we do not act with an abundance of caution and temporarily halt all flights to and from the UK, until this new strain is brought under control. In the case of this virus, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Meanwhile, the NCDC has announced that Nigeria recorded 501 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 78,434.