By Bisola Adeyemo
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Ban on importation of rice, poultry, among others is still in force, the federal government said on Wednesday after reopening four land borders that had been closed for several after months.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed disclosed the reopening of the four borders after the 28th virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chamber of State House, Abuja.
Besides the items announced by the finance minister, key items on the prohibition list on the Customs website include live or dead birds like frozen poultry; pork, beef, bird’s eggs, excluding hatching eggs; refined vegetable oil and fats (includes mayonnaise); cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose; spaghetti/noodles.
Others include bagged cement; medicaments like paracetamol: carpet and other textile materials, used cars of over 15 years, parboiled rice; toothpick, among others.
NatureNews reports that the reopening of the borders brought joy to the business community as many who were thrown out of business are to be back to life.
Many decried the closure of the borders, saying the development had aggravated poverty, made the cost of basic needs high and crippled the source of livelihood of many.
The closure of the borders had also grossly affected the economic fortunes of neighbouring Benin and Niger Republics, Chad, Cameroon, Ghana, among others.
Government said the borders were closed to stop importation of contrabands including arms and ammunition, boost agriculture and protect local economy.
The minister said the remaining officially recognised borders will reopen on or before December 31, 2020.
She said: “The president has approved the recommendations of the committee that I chaired with the ministers of trade and investment, interior, foreign affairs, national security adviser and comptroller general of Customs.”
The finance minister said the committee was mandated to review and advise on the reopening of the Nigerian borders and after they submitted their recommendations, the president agreed that the borders should be reopened.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, while fielding questions from State House reporters on the advantages in the border closure, said: “It allowed the security agencies to access the problems at the borders particularly concerning smuggling.
“As you are all aware before the border closure, a lot of petroleum products were being smuggled out from the borders to West African countries and the border closure has created a situation that has tactically stopped that. They have been able to calculate the number of petroleum products being smuggled out by calculating the amount that is being lifted now compared to what was being lifted before”.
Nigeria, the largest economy and the most prosperous of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), closed its land borders in August last year on account of the proliferation of illegal importation of drugs, small arms and agricultural products coming from neighbouring West African countries.
The Chairman of Export Group, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Chief Ede Dafinone, said that the government had lost an incredible amount of goodwill. “Most of us manufacturing for export did not see the benefit and reason for the closure,” he said.
“Investors that have plans to situate their plants in Nigeria to take advantage of West Africa have to rethink because they cannot put in all that funds only for the government to wake up tomorrow and shut down again,” he said.
The Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Muda Yusuf, said the decision would be beneficial to the economy.
He, however, stressed the need to strengthen the border policing and management mechanisms to avoid a relapse into the conditions that led to the closure in the first place.
“The biggest challenge with border management is an institutional issue. We need to demand accountability from the institutions that have the responsibility for border policing and management,” he said.
Residents and members of the Seme-Karke community in Badagry have expressed excitement with the reopening of the borders by the federal government.
They said the decision will give succour to the people who had been affected by the lull in economic activities since the border was closed.
