Abuja — Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the federal government to act fast and now to prevent Nigerians from recording avoidable casualties as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits the world.

He advised the federal government to emulate the European countries by banning flights from the United Kingdom.

He said this in a statement titled: 'An Ounce of Prevention Is Better Than a Pound of Cure', which he signed in Abuja, on Sunday.

Atiku said, "We must face the reality that our health sector is not sufficiently prepared to handle a sudden and unpredictable surge of this pandemic. We have already lost lives needlessly. We need not lose more.

"Already, prudent nations are taking prompt action, and Nigeria must take necessary precautions, due to the volume of air traffic between Nigerian airports and London, where this new strain has erupted.

"The reason Nigeria took a harder than necessary hit during the first wave of the COVID-19 virus is that the Federal Government failed to heed the warnings of well-meaning Nigerians, like myself and others, to shut down our borders once the virus became a pandemic.

"Hindsight is 20/20. Nevertheless, we must learn from history or we stand the risk of repeating it.

"The new strain of COVID19 that has erupted in the United Kingdom, and specifically, London, can add to Nigeria's health emergency if we do not act with an abundance of caution and temporarily halt all flights to and from the UK, until this new strain is brought under control. In the case of this virus, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."