It's almost seven weeks since Nigeria shut its land borders against our West and Central African brothers. There has been this talk about the gains of the closure by officials and agents of the federal government. The other day, I heard the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retired), saying that more ships were now berthing at Nigerian ports because of the closure. He is anticipating more revenue for the government because of the closure. The likes of Hameed Ali try to hype the limited gains of the closure to justify an incongruity. The truth that must be told is that the pain on troubled Nigerians outweighs the little gain being celebrated.
First, Hameed Ali and his boys must face the fact that despite the closure of the land borders, smuggling still persists. The Customs boss should visit the rice market in Sango, Ogun State, if he still does not understand what I am talking about. Here, he would see all varieties of imported rice. Closure of the formal borders only means the smugglers now follow longer informal routes, with higher cost. The smugglers simply pass the extra cost to Nigerian consumers. So who is feeling the heat? Certainly, not the smugglers.
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