BY IFEANYI IZEZE
Every day that passes we see in this country that the dividing between
mischief and good intention is so thin that most times our political
leaders deceive Nigerians to believe they are the same thing.
If the number two man at the National Assembly, the Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila could be used to smuggle a bill
handed over to him from outside and coerce his fellow lawmakers to
undertake the first, second and even heading to third reading with the
ultimate aim of passing it the same day they were seeing it for the
first time, can anybody convincingly say we have leaders in this
country?
Tragically, the conspiracy theories which were being bandied around the
world on the real intentions of the trumpeted covid-19 pandemic and the
ultimate forced vaccination is now narrowing into a clear pattern of
reality before our eyes being championed by those we call our leaders.
How else can anybody describe this bill “Control of Infectious
Diseases 2020” if not to say that it is a clear attempt to turn
Nigerians into guinea pigs for medical research while taking away their
fundamental human rights?
Reading through this bill and looking at the timing of its tabling
before the National Assembly, you need no further prompting to be
convinced that its sponsors are clearly not interested in any genuine
control or prohibition of infectious diseases in Nigeria. Gbajabiamila
and his co-travellers might be aiming to satisfy foreign interests to
the detriment of Nigerians. Whoever does not see the covert intentions
of this bill, is not looking at all!
More worrisome is the fact that the contents of the bill fitted
perfectly well into some conspiracy theories that are being peddled on
social media locally and internationally on the intention of some
suspicious global power interests to create vaccines, forcefully make
people to accept these vaccines and go further to implement a means of
identification by way of chips implant or any other means they deem fit
to identify those that have taken the vaccines.
Is it not curious that Nigeria at this time should be at the forefront
and even in a hurry to enact such a legislation to support forced
vaccination and certification to identify who has been vaccinated even
when no effective vaccine has been created?
Section 3 (2b), 8 and 9 will empower the Director General of the
National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) or his appointed agents to
declare as criminal any gathering, Religious or otherwise on mere
suspicion of the presence of infectious disease. This absolute
discretionary power takes away the Constitutional Powers of the Courts
to determine the criminality of an action or otherwise.
Also Section16 of the proposed bill is a very potent instrument against
the Church and other Religious organizations. Thus, if in the opinion of
the DG any building is deemed overcrowded he can make an order
dispersing the crowd and anybody who goes in shall be convicted of an
offence without any legal trial in a competent Court of law.
Section 30 and 46 of the Bill is repugnant as it will allow forceful
vaccination against a person’s choice and will, this is also
unconstitutional as same is against freedom of thought, conscience and
religion.
It looks perfectly appropriate now to make this law as the world is
presently battling a virus (presumably) that has devastated several
nations with no officially announced cure yet. Substantial fear has been
stirred up in people across the world by the media about the destructive
effect of this disease. It is this fear that the agents of darkness who
are behind this bill want to ride on to rush the legislation through.
Nigerians should see it as an insult to our sensibilities that the
Speaker and his co-travellers are very adamant to the concerns raised by
the Nigerian people and are pushing ahead with passing this piece of
legislation into law whether Nigerians like it or not.
Major takeaways from the remark by Gbajabiamila at the floor of the
House on Tuesday 5th May, on the controversy generated by the proposed
bill, obviously reveals that he is not going back on the bill as Nigeria
has to ‘key into a new world order that will sure emerge at the end of
the ongoing corona virus pandemic.’
In his own words: “I disagree wholeheartedly with the suggestion that
this is not the ideal time to seek reforms of the infectious diseases
and public health emergency framework in the country. The weaknesses of
the present system have already manifested in the inability of the
government to hold to proper account those whose refusal to adhere with
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) guidelines led to the further
spread of the coronavirus in Nigeria. We have had people break out from
isolation centres, and others, who fully aware of their status chose to
travel across state lines on public transport.
“The number of those currently infected by the coronavirus continues
to rise alongside the number of those who have died. There is no
timeline for when this disease will pass, and nobody can predict when
the next public health crisis will occur, just as nobody predicted the
present predicament. It bears restating that we do not have in our
country, a healthcare system or for that matter, a national economy that
is sufficiently robust to withstand the dire consequences of a sustained
infectious disease pandemic. We cannot tie our own hands in the fight
against this disease.
“Whether we choose to accept it or not, the world we live in has
changed irretrievably. There is no ‘normal’ to return to as this
present crisis has laid bare the fundamental weaknesses in our systems
of law and policy and left our nation at risk of devastating outcomes on
all sides. Our current task is first to survive and then to set about
building a new world. Inevitably, this demands that we should be willing
to consider new ideas, explore novel possibilities, rejecting those
ancient shibboleths we have long adhered to without benefit.
“The Control of Infectious Diseases Bill will be put forward to a
public hearing where stakeholder contributions will be sought to make
improvements to the Bill before it is reviewed and debated by the
Committee of the whole. It is from the accumulation of these myriad
views, suggestions and good faith critiques from within and outside the
House that we will arrive at final legislation that meets the present
and future needs of our country, and which we all can support in good
conscience.
“The social distancing guidelines under which this House and the whole
country operates for the time being means that the usual format of
public hearings is not tenable. If a socially distant public hearing
becomes workable, we will certainly explore that option. Nonetheless,
the House will provide alternative platforms for all Nigerians who
desire, to send in written documents that articulate their concerns,
make recommendations on amendments and perhaps present other
formulations for a new framework for managing infectious diseases in
Nigeria. All the contributions we receive will be considered and
aggregated to improve the proposed legislation.”
Nigerians should demand for explanations from Mr. Gbajabiamila on why he
is trying to trick the country into a very dubious legislation that will
erode the entire foundations of our freedom as human beings.
The NCDC should also come clean on whether it is behind the said bill
and its intendments.
The next likely thing that will happen at the National Assembly is that
the Speaker and his co-travellers will repackage this bill, remove few
things and represent it as another piece of legislation to be also
passed with the rocket speed of the “Control of Infectious Disease
Bill 2020”. So we need to closely watch them especially as he has
warned that the public hearing will follow the social distancing rules
so it’s going to be remote submission of contributions. God bless
Nigeria!