The United Kingdom has removed Nigeria, along with ten other African countries, from its COVID-19 travel red list with effect from 4am on Wednesday, 15 December 2021, easing a restriction that had drawn sustained criticism from Nigerian officials since its imposition in early November.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Parliament that the change reflected the reality that Omicron had already achieved widespread community transmission within Britain itself, making the red list a less effective tool for slowing the variant's spread from abroad. Alongside Nigeria, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe were also removed from the list.
A Contentious Restriction
Nigeria had been added to the UK's red list on 4 November 2021, a measure that barred entry to all but UK and Irish residents and required mandatory hotel quarantine for returning travellers. Nigerian officials, including Information Minister Lai Mohammed, had publicly described the ban as discriminatory and disproportionate given the relatively small number of Omicron cases confirmed in the country at the time.
The restriction prompted Nigeria to impose its own reciprocal ban on flights from the UK, Canada and Saudi Arabia earlier in December, in a tit-for-tat measure the aviation ministry framed as a response to what it considered unfair treatment of Nigerian travellers.
What Changes
With the red list restriction lifted, travellers from Nigeria to the UK will once again be subject to the UK's standard testing requirements for international arrivals rather than mandatory quarantine, though the UK government indicated that testing measures would continue to be reviewed into the new year. It remains to be seen whether Nigeria's own reciprocal restrictions on UK-bound traffic will be eased in response.
