Since the introduction of the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill on the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, some merchants of lies went to town with misinformation and outright falsehoods about the proposed legislation, which objective is to make the country proactive rather than reactive regarding the outbreak of any infectious disease.
The campaign of calumny waged against the bill, especially on the social media, is at best unpatriotic. While the country is trying to find a way to prevent further spread of COVID-19 and eliminate it completely from our shores, some of our countrymen are deeply engrossed in spreading lies about the bill which in all honesty, seeks to have a positive impact on our drive to contain the situation now and in the future.
One of such lies is that the bill plagiarises an existing law in Singapore. Before you drink that cocktail of lies, know that the claim on plagiarism is merely an attempt for propaganda to triumph over fact.
Undoubtedly, the bill, in a number of provisions, looks at the infectious diseases framework that exist in Singapore with amendments to reflect our context and realities. This practice is allowed in legislatures all over the world, so nobody should lie to you that laws should not fashioned from those of other countries. All you need to do is to contextualise such to suit your situation. Acts of parliaments in any jurisdiction are not protected under the copyright or plagiarism law.
Nigerian laws such as the Child Rights Act, Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, Anti-Terrorism Act and a host of others are fashioned, either entirely or in part, after those in other jurisdictions.
The bill remains a proposal, an imperfect one, that can and would be improved on through normal legislative processes.
Those who want Nigerians to believe everything about their lies on the bill lock, stock and barrel also allege an attempt to rush and pass the bill without proper legislative scrutiny allegedly to aid COVID-19 vaccine trial in Nigeria.
Even if the bill had passed first, second and third readings that day, it must go to the senate for concurrence. Besides, that would not have been the first time a bill would be passed that way. The Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill passed on March 24, 2020, is an example.
Truth is; the bill was not speedily sponsored to aid any COVID-19 vaccine trial in Nigeria as alleged. The action was driven by the need for more proactive measures to checkmate the further spread of infectious diseases not limited to just COVID-19. One would think that anything initiated to tackle COVID-19 should be treated with dispatch and the urgency it requires.
The antagonists of the bill also say its timing is wrong. They argue that since the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic, such a bill should come at a later time while it focuses on the battle.
When is the right time to do the right things in this country? There is virtually nothing that government and the parliament do that we say is done at the right time.
This bill is an urgent response to a dire situation that requires drastic measures.
Like Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who is the lead sponsor of the bill, said, “The weaknesses of the present system have already manifested in the inability of the government to hold to proper account those whose refusal to adhere with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) guidelines led to the further spread of the coronavirus in Nigeria. We have had people break out from isolation centres, and others, who fully aware of their status, chose to travel across state lines on public transport.”
The DG of NCDC, who had earlier expressed reservations about the passage of the bill at this time, also declared support for the bill on that day, saying there could not be a stronger advocate of such legislation than himself as the agency was mostly affected by the deficiencies of the existing law on infectious diseases.
The UK parliament had in late March enacted the Coronavirus Act which attracted criticisms of trampling on human rights. But the act was a quick response to the devastation being unleashed by the disease. The US congress also passed a law to strengthen small businesses, while in Hungary, the parliament passed a law to punish those spreading misinformation on COVID-19. All these were done in the middle of the pandemic.
On the issue of vaccine, it is not an attempt to compel anyone to accept a vaccine at this time. The import of that provision is simple: where there is an internationally approved vaccine, Nigerians can be vaccinated to avoid the spread of any infectious disease. Lest we forget, leaving an individual out without being vaccinated for an infectious disease puts others in danger. But the choice remains that of the citizens before the bill is finally passed.
The mother of all insinuations about the bill that has no basis whatsoever is the allegation that lawmakers were bribed with millions of dollars by a certain foreign interest to pass it. I woould not say much on this as it is already a subject of an investigation by a panel constituted by the house. Those that made the allegation must prove it, or they have a day in court.
Understandably, one aspect of the bill that attracted a barrage of attacks is the provision for arrest without warrant of persons who violate its provisions. This, truth must be told, is borne out of the citizens’ fears over the character of some security agents.
But the power to arrest without warrant is not new in Nigerian laws as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), Section 52, empowers a police officer to arrest without warrant, a person in the process of committing an offence, or where such police officer suspects an attempt is being made to commit a crime.
Also, it is understandable that some Nigerians fear that the bill gives too much powers to the DG of NCDC. However, the actions of the DG are subject to the approval of the Minister of Health, who is directly answerable to the president. Suffice it to say that both the president and the minister have specified roles to play in the bill.
All said, the house, under Gbajabiamila, has shown that it is indeed the house of the Nigerian people, which is open to suggestions by citizens, by resolving to hold a public hearing on the bill. Whatever genuine issues that Nigerians have against the bill, they now have an avenue to make their inputs before it becomes law.
Sadiq Ibrahim is a lawyer, former Speaker of the Adamawa State House Assembly and former Member of the House of Representatives.
