COVID-19: Group Warns Against Vaccine Trial in the North
Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the Honourable Minister of Health wherein he listed the FCT and Five 5 states whose governors have given their foreign collaborators the green light to use their citizens as laboratory rats for the clinical trials of the much touted Covid-19 curative drugs and vaccine.
We condemn the decision of the governors of the states of Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto, and the FCT Minister for taking such a complex decision on behalf of our people without due consultations with relevant stakeholders.
We wish to state without any fear of contradiction that our people are not Guinea Pigs for such trials. We are yet to hear of such trial in United State of America where reported cases of infection have exceeded One Million with corresponding high mortality rate far above mortalities in all African nation’s combined together. The case of such trial conducted by Pfizer in Kano that has disabled so many potential northern Nigeria human capital is still fresh in our memory.
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However, it is the right of the governor’s that have indicated interest in the trial to first present themselves and their children to be use for such. Leadership should be by example, this case shouldn’t be an exemption. The rich through their globe throating and in search of greener pastures for themselves and children imported the disease into the country. If they had all remain in the country, we wouldn’t have found ourselves in this mess today. Therefore, they are duty and morally bound to present themselves for the treatment and vaccine trial.
We are particularly perplexed that no single state in South South and South East geopolitical zones where the Honourable Minister of Health and the Director General of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) hails from respectively, was found in the list of the state for the trials. Charity they say should begin at home. It cost our tears for testing centres to be extended to us, why is the gift of the drug and vaccine trial speedily extended to us? those that don’t deserve testing centre shouldn’t deserve vaccine trial centres.
The federal Character principle has been our guiding principle in the running of our National affairs, if it becomes necessary that we can’t do without the drugs trial, the most honourable thing to do is for each Zone to donate her people for it in the spirit of Federal Character, national growth and cohesion.
Lastly, we wish to call on parents who sent their children to other states for Almajiri schools but are yet to return home to do well to check on them up in their states Covid-19 isolation centres where most of them are being held on the ground of being infected with the virus to avoid them being forcefully used for the nefarious trial as they are innocent and naive to know what they are being used for.
Comrade Isah Abubakar
National President
Northern Youth Council of Nigeria
