Nigerians Becoming Victims Of Neighbouring Country’s Attacks Due To Border Closure – Nwabunike

Hon. Tony Uju Nwabunike is the National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents. In an interview with Vanguard last week, he raised the alarm over what he describes as attacks on Nigerians by nationals of neighbouring states in connection to border closure by the Nigerian government.

When asked on his thoughts on the issue of smuggling which the government says has necessitated the closure of the borders, here is what he has to say:

We all know that smuggling is a function of economic factors and trade policies. Total border closure may not solve all the problems. The border closure lest we forget affects legitimate businesses especially of Nigerians involved in import and export business.

I also believe Nigeria is not ready for trade-in Africa after signing a treaty recently on trade liberalization in Africa.

Since the closure, Cadbury, Unilever, Nestle and the others are counting difficulties and harsh trading environment. Our immediate neighbouring countries are not complaining, Abuja has said they understand and are cooperating.

Last week I was at Cote d’Ivoire for a business meeting. The moment some of us Nigerians attempted to make contributions, those francophone people started shouting and making trouble. They are becoming hostile all because of the closure of our land borders. Trade survives on loans, and it is not only Nigerians that are trapped in this unfortunate situation. Government has said this action has security implication, and we cannot but support the government to do what is right. As a businessman leading a group, my appeal is that the government should seek another proactive method to achieve border policing.

He continues, ”I wrote the Comptroller General of Customs over the closure of land borders. My concerns were why the action soon after signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. We only have crude oil as major export. If we are trying to compete with Morocco, Algeria, South Africa…how do we go about it? Let me tell you Nigeria is not ready for the AfCFTA and it is going to be very difficult for us. We are going to face a lot of challenges. You see it is dangerous for people to see you as the giant of Africa, but when it comes to trading you cannot fit in. There are so many products in the African market that is becoming borderless. That is the area I want the Federal Government to look at instead of total closure of the land borders.