 It's still plus politics. Now, the British High Commission has announced that the United Kingdom would not reverse its travel ban on Nigeria because of a threat of retaliation by the Nigerian government. The spokesperson for the British High Commission, Dean Hurluck, said this in a response to an inquiry by Pressman over a statement by the Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika that the United Kingdom, Canada and Saudi Arabia would be put on Nigeria's travel ban on Tuesday. Hurluck stated that the UK government has been clear that the travel abroad will be different this year and countries may impose border measures to, at short notice, in line with their own coronavirus policies. We're joining us to discuss this is Ambassador Joe Keshe, former Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thank you so much Ambassador Keshe for joining us. Thank you, Dean and thanks for having me. Great. So, let's talk about this politics of reciprocity. You know, it's been the conversation that has lasted all through last week into this week and I mean we've seen it happen before within embassies and fees that need to be paid and should not be paid. We've seen that happen even between the Nigerian Embassy and the US Embassy. That's happened. But at this level we've not necessarily seen something like this happen. But why is this particular issue especially the one that surrounds the Omicron virus very critical? Well, I think what we all need to understand that a number of countries all over the world if there was any less in the length in early 2020 when the pandemic started, it was a fact that it did not act early enough. And as a result the pandemic began to spread worldwide. So what you see happening now whether the South African variant Omicron is mild or not mild, every country is reacting to the best of the knowledge they have on how to stop the variant from coming into their territory in order to prevent what happened when they acted too late when COVID-19 initially started. And I think that is what we all need to understand that they are acting in the best interest of their country. They are taking steps to ensure that they do not suffer the kind of disaster, loss of human lives that characterize the early part of COVID-19 I think in 2020. Well, when the High Commissioner of the UK to Nigeria spoke on this issue she continuously harped on the fact that it was based on science and it was not based on any form of politics or as the Nigerian government made reference to it they called it some form of a pathide. They thought that this was the UK and other countries shutting out Africa from their borders and letting other countries continuously travel toe and fro their countries. So I'm wondering the energy, the kind of reciprocity that we're giving to the United Kingdom, Canada and Saudi Arabia, is it really worth it? Because again many people support the Nigerian perspective saying that we need to match that energy that these countries are giving to us. So someone who's worked as a diplomat is it really necessary for us to expend this much energy? I'm not sure it's worth expanding this sort of energy. I think we can spend all the energy we have now on the UAR that is burning Nigerian flights and Nigerians are even getting to Dubai. That's where I think we need to spend considerable energy. But on this, again I make the point, number one I think we are overreacting and those who are calling it apartheid are not being realistic to start with. The first thing I said was that if there was any lesson learned from when COVID broke out some two years ago, it was a fact that it took quite some time before the Chinese were honest in admitting that they had a problem. And by that time COVID had arrived in Europe, it has arrived in America and then was just traveling around the world. But the argument is that when COVID was found in China, and apologies for speaking over you, the issue or the argument basically here is that when COVID was discovered to have come from China, it wasn't called the Chinese virus, neither was it called the Chinese variant. But then when it was found by scientists in South Africa, this is not my argument. This is the argument that has been had. It was now called the South African variant. Let me make my case. I think we have been unnecessarily emotional about this as far as I'm concerned. Look, when the COVID-19 broke out in China, China did not inform the world early enough. And what happened was that it began to spread phenomenally around the world. And we all are aware of the consequences, the loss of life. Take what happened in Italy. The whole of Italy, I mean, Italy suffered a lot, for example. And the number of, we lost about, how many millions of people have we lost as a result of what happened, you know, when COVID started. And the failure of the Chinese to report early enough. So when the South Africans reported early enough, every country began to rush to take necessary measures to protect their citizens. We must recognize this that there's a difference between what happened the three years ago. It has nothing to do with China or the South Africans. It has to do with the fact that the governments are reacting in order to protect their citizens. That's number one. Number two was the fact that when Canada first showed us, for example, that two people came to Canada with only corona and things like that. We again did not react early enough. Now I'm not blaming. Look, we've done everything I believe we need to do. But we need to understand why some of these countries are reacting the way they are reacting. They are doing this to protect their citizens. And that is what governments are supposed to do. Let's be honest with ourselves. That is what governments are supposed to do. You don't wait and say, oh, until people start dying, until you know how to say they're on their own. No, they're learning the lessons of 2020. Let's talk about the aftermath or the effect that this reciprocity by Nigeria, if it be done by tomorrow, would have on us as a country and what it would do to the relationships that we have with these different countries. I'm talking about Canada, the United Kingdom and, of course, Saudi Arabia. Is it going to affect us economically and relations-wise? Of course. Look, it will affect us economically. It will affect them economically also. Everybody is going to pay price one way or the other. But look, in favor of the federal government, if they want to retaliate, fine. They need to do that out of national pride. There's no harm in doing that. But I think that what we need to focus in my view is how to ensure that we address the issue of COVID-19 in this country. We need to begin a new campaign to strengthen the procedures in place. We need to talk about wearing a face mask. We need to talk of all the protocols that we had almost virtually discarded. I think it was only the legal statement last week that came up with some announcement on some new protocols. I can't remember what the federal government has done or what any other states have done. Well, the federal government is insisting that every civil servant, I guess, from December 1, has to be vaccinated. This country is not made up of civil servants alone. And it's not only civil servants that live in Abuja, for example. It's not only civil servants that live in Abuja, for example. But let me say this while I say how do you earn. Look, the way forward, as far as I'm concerned, is let us begin to take measures to address the COVID-19, the Omicron issue right now. Part of what we can help everybody around the world, including Nigeria, is if the threat of Omicron begins to decrease, the world will reopen again and now everybody will be able to travel. Alright. Ambassador Joe Keshe, we appreciate your thoughts. Thank you very much for speaking with us. Thank you for having me. Thanks. Alright. Well, thank you all for staying with us. It's been Plus Politics. We'll leave you with what Nigerians have to say about the travel ban clash between Nigeria and other countries. I'm Mary Anacone. I'll see you on Tuesday. The federal government is right because Nigeria is a sovereign nation. And as a sovereign nation, we also need to make a decision to protect the interests of Nigerian citizens. Because if we look at this issue of variants, some of them come from other foreign countries. And at the end of the day, we need to prevent with the black nations from being racially discriminated. Like now they say Omicron variants is Satab Khan variants. And next thing, it's not a banning Satab Khan countries. I believe that it wasn't right because it's a form of racial discrimination. So in my own opinion, the federal government is right. They are doing the right thing because the rate at which other countries, let me just say that like every time they talk to Nigerians and it seems they take Nigeria as if they are nobody and Nigeria is a place anyone can just barge in and barge out anytime. I think if they are also placing a ban on other countries to come in, then it's also a good decision. I believe Nigeria is a bigger country. It depends on Dubai, it depends on the UK, it depends on America, Australia and all other western countries. So I don't see any reason why we should put a ban on any other country. What we should do is to resolve the issue for now. So that's what I think. Thank you very much. The government should place a ban on any country that plays a ban on Nigeria. Because no country is greater, I mean no country is greater, so I think it's a right decision.