BY IFEANYI IZEZE<\/p>\n
Every day that passes we see in this country that the dividing between
\nmischief and good intention is so thin that most times our political
\nleaders deceive Nigerians to believe they are the same thing.<\/p>\n
If the number two man at the National Assembly, the Speaker of the House
\nof Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila could be used to smuggle a bill
\nhanded over to him from outside and coerce his fellow lawmakers to
\nundertake the first, second and even heading to third reading with the
\nultimate aim of passing it the same day they were seeing it for the
\nfirst time, can anybody convincingly say we have leaders in this
\ncountry?<\/p>\n
Tragically, the conspiracy theories which were being bandied around the
\nworld on the real intentions of the trumpeted covid-19 pandemic and the
\nultimate forced vaccination is now narrowing into a clear pattern of
\nreality before our eyes being championed by those we call our leaders.<\/p>\n
How else can anybody describe this bill \u201cControl of Infectious
\nDiseases 2020\u201d if not to say that it is a clear attempt to turn
\nNigerians into guinea pigs for medical research while taking away their
\nfundamental human rights?<\/p>\n
Reading through this bill and looking at the timing of its tabling
\nbefore the National Assembly, you need no further prompting to be
\nconvinced that its sponsors are clearly not interested in any genuine
\ncontrol or prohibition of infectious diseases in Nigeria. Gbajabiamila
\nand his co-travellers might be aiming to satisfy foreign interests to
\nthe detriment of Nigerians. Whoever does not see the covert intentions
\nof this bill, is not looking at all!<\/p>\n
More worrisome is the fact that the contents of the bill fitted
\nperfectly well into some conspiracy theories that are being peddled on
\nsocial media locally and internationally on the intention of some
\nsuspicious global power interests to create vaccines, forcefully make
\npeople to accept these vaccines and go further to implement a means of
\nidentification by way of chips implant or any other means they deem fit
\nto identify those that have taken the vaccines.<\/p>\n
Is it not curious that Nigeria at this time should be at the forefront
\nand even in a hurry to enact such a legislation to support forced
\nvaccination and certification to identify who has been vaccinated even
\nwhen no effective vaccine has been created?<\/p>\n
Section 3 (2b), 8 and 9 will empower the Director General of the
\nNational Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) or his appointed agents to
\ndeclare as criminal any gathering, Religious or otherwise on mere
\nsuspicion of the presence of infectious disease. This absolute
\ndiscretionary power takes away the Constitutional Powers of the Courts
\nto determine the criminality of an action or otherwise.<\/p>\n
Also Section16 of the proposed bill is a very potent instrument against
\nthe Church and other Religious organizations. Thus, if in the opinion of
\nthe DG any building is deemed overcrowded he can make an order
\ndispersing the crowd and anybody who goes in shall be convicted of an
\noffence without any legal trial in a competent Court of law.<\/p>\n
Section 30 and 46 of the Bill is repugnant as it will allow forceful
\nvaccination against a person\u2019s choice and will, this is also
\nunconstitutional as same is against freedom of thought, conscience and
\nreligion.<\/p>\n
It looks perfectly appropriate now to make this law as the world is
\npresently battling a virus (presumably) that has devastated several
\nnations with no officially announced cure yet. Substantial fear has been
\nstirred up in people across the world by the media about the destructive
\neffect of this disease. It is this fear that the agents of darkness who
\nare behind this bill want to ride on to rush the legislation through.<\/p>\n
Nigerians should see it as an insult to our sensibilities that the
\nSpeaker and his co-travellers are very adamant to the concerns raised by
\nthe Nigerian people and are pushing ahead with passing this piece of
\nlegislation into law whether Nigerians like it or not.<\/p>\n
Major takeaways from the remark by Gbajabiamila at the floor of the
\nHouse on Tuesday 5th May, on the controversy generated by the proposed
\nbill, obviously reveals that he is not going back on the bill as Nigeria
\nhas to \u2018key into a new world order that will sure emerge at the end of
\nthe ongoing corona virus pandemic.\u2019<\/p>\n
In his own words: \u201cI disagree wholeheartedly with the suggestion that
\nthis is not the ideal time to seek reforms of the infectious diseases
\nand public health emergency framework in the country. The weaknesses of
\nthe present system have already manifested in the inability of the
\ngovernment to hold to proper account those whose refusal to adhere with
\nNigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) guidelines led to the further
\nspread of the coronavirus in Nigeria. We have had people break out from
\nisolation centres, and others, who fully aware of their status chose to
\ntravel across state lines on public transport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number of those currently infected by the coronavirus continues
\nto rise alongside the number of those who have died. There is no
\ntimeline for when this disease will pass, and nobody can predict when
\nthe next public health crisis will occur, just as nobody predicted the
\npresent predicament. It bears restating that we do not have in our
\ncountry, a healthcare system or for that matter, a national economy that
\nis sufficiently robust to withstand the dire consequences of a sustained
\ninfectious disease pandemic. We cannot tie our own hands in the fight
\nagainst this disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether we choose to accept it or not, the world we live in has
\nchanged irretrievably. There is no \u2018normal\u2019 to return to as this
\npresent crisis has laid bare the fundamental weaknesses in our systems
\nof law and policy and left our nation at risk of devastating outcomes on
\nall sides. Our current task is first to survive and then to set about
\nbuilding a new world. Inevitably, this demands that we should be willing
\nto consider new ideas, explore novel possibilities, rejecting those
\nancient shibboleths we have long adhered to without benefit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Control of Infectious Diseases Bill will be put forward to a
\npublic hearing where stakeholder contributions will be sought to make
\nimprovements to the Bill before it is reviewed and debated by the
\nCommittee of the whole. It is from the accumulation of these myriad
\nviews, suggestions and good faith critiques from within and outside the
\nHouse that we will arrive at final legislation that meets the present
\nand future needs of our country, and which we all can support in good
\nconscience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe social distancing guidelines under which this House and the whole
\ncountry operates for the time being means that the usual format of
\npublic hearings is not tenable. If a socially distant public hearing
\nbecomes workable, we will certainly explore that option. Nonetheless,
\nthe House will provide alternative platforms for all Nigerians who
\ndesire, to send in written documents that articulate their concerns,
\nmake recommendations on amendments and perhaps present other
\nformulations for a new framework for managing infectious diseases in
\nNigeria. All the contributions we receive will be considered and
\naggregated to improve the proposed legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nigerians should demand for explanations from Mr. Gbajabiamila on why he
\nis trying to trick the country into a very dubious legislation that will
\nerode the entire foundations of our freedom as human beings.<\/p>\n
The NCDC should also come clean on whether it is behind the said bill
\nand its intendments.<\/p>\n
The next likely thing that will happen at the National Assembly is that
\nthe Speaker and his co-travellers will repackage this bill, remove few
\nthings and represent it as another piece of legislation to be also
\npassed with the rocket speed of the \u201cControl of Infectious Disease
\nBill 2020\u201d. So we need to closely watch them especially as he has
\nwarned that the public hearing will follow the social distancing rules
\nso it\u2019s going to be remote submission of contributions. God bless
\nNigeria!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n