The immediate past Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, Hon. Kayode Oladele on Monday called for a speedy resolution to Nigeria border closure with her neighbouring countries.
Hon. Oladele who spoke with TribuneOnline in reaction to the International Monetary Funds (IMF) support for the policy, affirmed that it is absolutely within the responsibility of the Federal Government to take adequate measures to protect the Nigerian economy and discourage smuggling.
He however stressed that: “but in doing so, the country must also be mindful of its international obligations under various protocols and agreements,” adding that the “prolonged closure and protectionist policy could hinder the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and hamper the principle of free movement of people, goods, and services under the Economic Community of African States (ECOWAS) Protocol”.
“I agree with the IMF position and I know that no responsible government will give a laissez-faire attitude to the issue of smuggling but you will also agree with me that it is a macroeconomic policy and as such has mixed impacts on the economy and Nigerians, not to talk of our neighbouring countries.
“We shall surely benefit from it as a country and as you can see, the Customs receipts have increased marginally since the closure. I understand that due to the closure, sales of gasoline have fallen by about 12.5 per cent with positive effects on subsidy expenditure leading to double-digit savings for the government.
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“These are salutary effects for which the government must be praised. However, at the micro-level, the border communities and small scale industries who export their goods and services to the neighbouring countries are mostly at the receiving ends.
“Therefore, there is a need to balance the equities. As the saying goes, you cannot throw the baby away with the bathwater,” he said.
Hon. Oladele, who represented the border communities of Yewa North/Imeko-Afon Federal Constituency in Ogun State in the Eighth Assembly also warned that the implementation of the closure due to the over-zealousness of the men of Customs and Excise who continue to harass the marginalised toiling inhabitants of the border communities on daily basis all in the name of enforcing the policy.
He specifically frowned at the intimidation and indiscriminate killing of innocent Nigerians living at the border communities who carry out their legitimate businesses.
“I’m from a border community and I witness these harassments all the time, my people are fast becoming stateless because of the way they are being treated by our security operatives, in particular, men of Customs and Excise.
“It was bad before the policy and it is even worse now. Hence, the negative practical effects of closing the borders are felt by the border communities.
“We have lost so many of our people due to skirmishes with the men of Customs and Excise and border communities are constantly under siege.
“Every trading along the border is considered illegal and dubbed as smuggling by the Customs but they forget the fact that these law-abiding citizens have no other places to go and as Nigerians, they have inalienable, constitutionally guaranteed rights both for their welfare and their protection by the government.
“This is one of the shortcomings of the policy and its a bitter pill I must say,” Oladele concluded.
It would be recalled that on August 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the closure of Nigeria’s land borders with her neighbouring countries in order to tackle smuggling and enforce certain import restrictions.
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