QATAR has banned all Nigerian travellers who do not have valid polio vaccination certificate from entering the country as part of a renewed crackdown on the virus despite the fact that Nigeria has currently been declared polio-free.

Traditionally, Nigeria has had one of the highest rates of polio in the world but over the last year, the country has seen a dramatic improvement, with not one case reported. President Muhammadu Buhari has subsequently declared that his administration will do all within its powers to ensure that no Nigerian child is ever infected with polio again.

Despite this scenario, Qatar decided to ban all Nigerian citizens travelling to the country without valid certificate of vaccination against polio. Apparently, the Qataris have insisted that the ban was a precautionary measure to guide against the spread of the virus in the country.

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration spokesman, said: "In view of the above, John Obinna Chukwu, the FCT permanent secretary, wishes to intimate all stakeholders and intending travellers, particularly those resident in the FCT on the need to obtain duly signed and stamped yellow book on polio and other communicable diseases. Mr Chukwu reiterated that obtaining of this yellow book on polio and other communicable diseases is very necessary to avoid embarrassment at the port of entry into the country.”

Qatar, an Arabian country in the Middle East, is ruled by 35-year-old monarch Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Like a lot of its neighbours in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar is enjoying phenomenal economic growth and is a haven for wealthy Nigerians.