Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, appealed to the Saudi authorities to review the travel restrictions it placed on Nigerians over the Omicron outbreak.
As part of measures towards the removal of travel restrictions placed on Nigerians intending to visit Saudi Arabia, the Nigerian Government has written to Faisal Al-Ghamdi, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Nigeria.
In a statement on Saturday, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, appealed to the Saudi authorities to review the travel restrictions it placed on Nigerians over the Omicron outbreak.
SaharaReporters had reported last year that citing the increasing cases of Omicron, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia suspended flights from Nigeria.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia had confirmed the flight suspension in a circular to all airlines operating in the kingdom.
The minister noted that many countries which had earlier placed bans on Nigeria had since reversed their positions having studied the achievements of Nigeria in containing the Pandemic.
“Although Nigeria has understood fully the reason for the ban by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was for the best interest of its citizens.
“But that the steps taken so far by Nigeria Authorities to curtail the spread of the Omicron variant have made it possible for many countries to consider Nigeria as safe, removing Nigeria from the blacklisted countries,” Dada stated.
He also said a cordial relationship existed for years and continued to exist between the two countries.
While expressing optimism for a timely response to Nigeria’s request from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mr Dada pledged to continue to give every necessary support and cooperation to the ambassador.
Al-Ghamdi in his response expressed satisfaction with the effort of the Nigerian Government in containing the spread of Omicron, promising to convey Nigeria’s message to the relevant Authorities back home in Saudi Arabia.
He stated that just like in Nigeria where there were bodies in charge of monitoring and the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia also had similar agencies responsible for monitoring and controlling the pandemic.