President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a partial closure of the land border on August 20. According to him, it was due to massive smuggling activities, especially rice.
Fact available has it that Benin imports 1.2 million metric tons of rice annually, against its population of about 11 million people. Cameroon imported 728,443 metric tons of rice according to National Statistics Institute (INS) in 2017, against a population of about 24 million. That same year Niger imported rice worth $53.9 million, about 135 metric tons of rice for a population of 21 million. Nigeria on the other hand imported 1.3 million metric tons in 2017 for a population of over 190 million people. It means massive loads of rice have found their way to Nigeria with paltry duty accruing to the federal government. This trend is threatening Nigeria's domestic rice production.
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