UK changes travel rules for travellers from Nigeria

The United Kingdom  on Thursday announced its decision to change its travel  rules for fully vaccinated travellers from Nigeria.

In a statement made available to journalists  by the Acting British High Commissioner, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, said: “fully vaccinated travellers from Nigeria will be able to come to England without needing to provide a pre-departure test, undertake a day 8 test or self-isolate for 10 days, although will still need to book and pay for a day 2 test.

According to the statement, “This policy applies to those fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca (including Covidshield), Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen (Johnson and Johnson).

He  explained that “Fully vaccinated means that you have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England.

The day you had your final dose does not count as one of the 14 days. You must be able to prove that you have been fully vaccinated under a vaccination programme and have a valid proof of vaccination recognised by the British Government (for Nigeria, the certificates with valid QR codes as issued by Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency are recognised).

Naira falling because Nigeria isn’t productive -Moghalu 

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, says that the naira is not appreciating because Nigeria is not a productive economy.

Moghalu said this in Abuja on Friday while announcing his defection to the African Democratic Congress, the party on whose platform he is expected to contest the 2023 presidential election.

He added that the only thing Nigeria exports is crude oil but the price is not determined by Nigeria, hence the nation’s volatile economy.

The former CBN deputy governor said, “We want to determine the exchange rate but we are not producing or exporting anything other than crude oil. The reason naira’s value to the dollar is what it is, is because Nigeria is not a productive economy.

“The number one thing that determines the value of any currency is how productive its economy is and export-oriented because when you export a diversified range of value added products, you’re earning foreign exchange in different ways.

“But if you are a one-trick pony, you depend on one commodity and you don’t control the price of that commodity, when the price sneezes, you catch pneumonia or you catch COVID. So, this is why we are suffering concerning the naira. It is also a demand and supply issue and also about inflation. So, when a country is experiencing inflation, it affects its exchange rate negatively.”

On the current state of insecurity in Anambra State which holds its governorship election next month, Moghalu said the crisis was manufactured and was being fuelled by selfish interests.

He said the deployment of soldiers in the state was unfortunate but was evidence that the police were too weak to restore order.

The Presidential hopeful, however, added that restoring peace in the state was the most important thing for now.