That Sections of the new Quarantine and Infectious Diseases Control Bill currently in the House of Representatives are broadly plagiarized for being similar to the Infectious Disease Law of Singapore.
*No no – poor propaganda.
i. It is not uncommon for the laws of nations or subnational bodies to be based on international conventions when the objectives are the same, in this case – Disease control. So the similarity is not only to Singapore but many other countries.
- In Nigeria, we have several laws currently in existence that are based on foreign legal texts – such example is Child Rights Act of 2003, the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement Act are based in form and substance on International laws namely United Nations Transnational Crime Convention and the Supplementing Protocol On Trafficking In Persons and the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. Another example of other Nigerian legislation that draws on foreign laws and international convention are BPE, NSITF AND ICRC Act.
So there is no plagiarism controversy here except in the imagination of those promoting the campaign against empowering NCDC to independently handle infectious disease control. The moment NCDC gains independence they can not enrich their pockets anymore. We all know the hatchet job many of them did a few years ago, in going against the creation of NCDC as an agency because of personality clash among some practitioners in the health sector.
Meanwhile, the infectious diseases control bill is not peculiar to Nigeria only because there are international conventions on the framework for setting up disease control centers in countries of the world and they are similar but address the local needs of each country. American has the same similar law on their disease control center. Nigerians are dying of Lassa fever, Corona, and yet no hope from stakeholders except playing cheap mischief and how to make money from what makes us cry.
Even now, you are not allowed to travel to many countries without showing that you have been vaccinated against yellow fever and other diseases. The yellow card you get at the airport is an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis that certifies you to be fully vaccinated.
If you have ever had to genuinely get one to travel but are now opposed to #PassNCDCBill, you might have a problem.
I say “genuinely” because corruption in the issuing of Yellow Cards is a long running problem and is one of the ills that the proposed Bill seeks to cure permanently. #PassNCDCBill