How 15-month border closure almost ruined private sector — Presidential panel

President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the reopening of land borders because of the very high inventory of unsold finished manufactured goods, especially those with market bases and significant presence in West Africa, which ultimately led to unemployment and poor credit rating.

A presidential source told Nigerian Tribune on Sunday evening that the administration felt it had already made the point by signalling to some of the neighbouring countries that Nigeria would no longer sit by and allow some of the untoward economic onslaught against the country to go unchecked.

After about 15 months of closure, Buhari was said to have realized that ordinary Nigerians and the private sector were taking the brunt of the action and this caused him to rethink the decision.

In addition, the source explained that the Federal Government had already achieved its strategic purpose for the closure which was to signal Nigeria’s dissatisfaction regarding some of the criminalities taking place around the borders.

The most significant recommendations of the Presidential Committee which advised the reopening of the border include the negative impact of the border closure on the private sector. The report noted, among other things, that the continued closure had negatively impacted some private sector businesses in Nigeria.

At the onset of its work, the Committee led by Finance, Budget and National Planning Minister Zainab Ahmed, had ordered a comprehensive and objective impact assessment which revealed that “despite the significant benefits of the partial border closure in helping to curb the activities of smugglers, irregular migrants and other forms of criminality, among other benefits; the Committee’s findings revealed that the policy was potentially detrimental to Nigeria’s overall immediate and long term economic, security, diplomatic and social interests,” a top government source explained o Sunday.

Another particular reason the Zainab Ahmed Committee highlighted in its findings and recommendations was the fact that Nigeria, as a signatory to the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, and member of ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS), needed to remove all barriers to ensure free movement of goods across the continent and work towards opening the land borders before the commencement of the treaty on January 1, 2021.

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The Committee, which reportedly won the praise of both the President and the Federal Executive Council for its work also stated that the prolonged border closure had indirectly limited Nigeria’s market, especially as the country is regarded as the most industrialised country in the ECOWAS region and a leading member of the ETLS.

Its report then added that the border closure affected Nigeria’s capacity to strengthen the workforce of relevant government security agencies with modern facilities (surveillance cameras, drones); as well as funding for training, to effectively monitor the entry and exit points in the event of a Joint Border Operation.

Despite the issues raised by the Committee, the report noted that the partial border closure “significantly reduced the prevalence of illegalities around the borders and positively impacted such key sectors of the Nigerian economy like oil & gas, agriculture, industry, etc.”

The Committee further recommended that with the reopening of the borders, appropriate border management and control measures are put in place to curb smuggling and other criminal activities perpetrated through illegal unmanned routes.

It said these measures would also check possible abuse of the efforts of the government towards enhancing its economic interests and national security.

President Muhammadu Buhari had actually approved the immediate reopening of four land borders, namely: Seme (South-West), Illela (North-West), Maigatari (North West/North East) and Mfum (South-South) as announced last week; while the remaining borders would be re-opened on or before December 31, 2020.

It would be recalled that the Inter-Ministerial Committee was established to comprehensively assess the impact of the closure and make appropriate recommendations to the President on the matter.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE