On one of my road trips to Ghana, west Africa, from Lagos -Nigeria, I decided to do 'the right thing', get my "Vaccination-Card". I was not just going to get a "Yellow-card", but was determined to do the right-thing, which includes: following the due process, in obtaining my card. Actually, it wasn't that important, after all, a lot of road-travelers on the west African frontier cross the borders on a daily basis without the Yellow Card. All you have to do is pay the required five-hundred Naira per trip, as cover for the card, and ensure that your passport gets stamped.
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| Seme Border |
Before the journey, I went to the Lagos State General Hospital, Marina, Lagos Island, from where I was directed to go the nearby "Lagos Island East, L.C.D.A, International Travel Unit, Yellow Card Vaccination", located at Broad street. There I was vaccinated, and given a Yellow-card at the cost of two-thousand, five-hundred Naira.
Two weeks later, I embarked on my voyage. Beaming with pride 'unto good citizen's levels, as in, it's not easy. Seriously, a lot of Nigerian youths are eager to do the right thing, but sometimes the System is not encouraging. That would be a story for another day. Back to my story, I traveled to Ghana, without hassles, my travel document was in tact.- a valid International passport, and my newly obtained Yellow card.
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| Lagos Island East, L.C.D.A, International Travel Unit, Yellow Card Vaccination office, Lagos Island |
"Kassalla", like Nigerians would say, 'bust' on my return trip. On getting to the Nigerian side of Seme border, after the routine check and cross-check, I was among those asked to alight from the vehicle by the Health officials.
My offense, I was traveling with a fake Yellow card. Excuse me, a Yellow card I went to the Lagos Island East, L.C.D.A, International Travel Unit, Yellow Card Vaccination office to obtain, was vaccinated, massaged my swollen upper-arm for three days, if not more, simply because I wanted to do the right thing, you call fake.
Obviously burning with anger and regrets of going through all the trouble to obtain the vaccination-card, I explained how, and where I got the supposed 'fake-card, a supposedly accredited vaccination center, yet another government agency, is telling me the card is fake. The good-news at that juncture, was that I had no money on me, even if they turned me up-side down, one-kobo would not have dropped off me. When their initial threats, of detention until I paid five hundred bucks failed, They let me off, with a warning to get another card when next I wanted to travel. I left, fuming and swearing beneath my breath (lol).
The supposed fake-Yellow-Card was with-held and the officers advised that I obtain an original card from their station at Seme border, since that appears to be the only office that issues authentic vaccination cards, in the whole of Nigeria. Can you beat that!.
A couple of weeks lateer, I made a stop-over at the "Lagos Island East, L.C.D.A, International Travel Unit, Yellow Card Vaccination", Broad street to complain about my the Yellow-card incident at Seme Border. After patiently listening to my complaint, an officer who attended to me, said she was sorry for what I went through at the border, adding that the issue of withdrawing Yellow cards from travelers who obtained their cards from their office, has been in contention for a long time. According to her, they had communicated with health officials at Seme border to desist from harassing travelers on the basis of 'fake Yellow cards' obtained from their office, to no avail. Nevertheless, they would get across to Seme.
My own is that the Nigerian government should investigate this matter, and provide a lasting solution. Unsuspecting citizens, who had gone to a supposedly recognized International Travel Unit, Yellow Card Vaccination office, got vaccinated, all in a bid to do the 'right thing', are being harassed on a daily basis and extorted, by the Yellow card Health officials at Seme border.
Yes, extorted! or how else can one explain paying twice for a Vaccination Card to a supposed government agency, and no one is raising eye-brows.
There should be a clear directive on where and how to obtain a valid Vaccination Card, to avoid undue harassment, and extortion, all in the name of "Oga/ Madam, this one is fake, we are withdrawing it; you have to get the original one here and now".
