COVID-19: Lack of Capacity and Resources to Accommodate Over 2000 Nigerians Abroad Wanting to Return Home – FG
The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed its financial incapacity to support the over 2000 Nigerians living abroad who have expressed their desire to return home since the global outbreak of the Coronavirus disease.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, more than 2000 Nigerians residing in the UK, US, China, UAE, and Sudan are seeking to return to Nigeria. However, the government lacks sufficient isolation centers to accommodate them for the mandatory 14-day quarantine upon their arrival in the country.
The Foreign Affairs ministry is collaborating with the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and some airlines to facilitate the repatriation of these Nigerians.
Speaking on ‘Politics Today’ on Channels Television, Onyeama stated, “We are at a stage now where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working with Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), they are the agency responsible for emergency such as this. We are working very closely together.”
He further explained, “We have asked certain airlines to activate and hopefully by today or tomorrow, we would have decided on the airlines that we will use. Hopefully, we will now be able to very soon thereafter be able to send the planes out.”
However, he highlighted the challenges, emphasizing the need for isolation centers in Nigeria for the returning citizens. He mentioned, “There are about 2,000 Nigerians that want to come back. There are those in the US, UK, United Arab Emirates (UAE), China; there are 200 in Sudan; there are students as well.”
He added, “We just don’t have the capacity and resources to absorb all of them immediately. So, we will have to bring people in stages and there are others who are saying testing should be carried out before; we know in some other countries, it is difficult to get testing done but hopefully, we will be in a position to start sending planes out in a matter of days.”