Tunji Owoeye is the Managing Director of Elephant Group as well as the President of Rice Millers Association of Nigeria. In this interview with Charles Okonji, he shares his views on the aftermath of the border closure
WHAT is your take on the pains and gains of border closure?
The gains are much more than the pains, no matter how we look at it. From our understanding, the government is not saying that they should not bring goods into Nigeria, but the government has decided that over 1,800 porous routes that they smuggle goods into the country should be properly manned. How much manpower do you want to put at all these illegal routes? Smuggling activities have thrived for long because of the vast area that we have which we now need to secure. It becomes practically impossible for customs to man all of these routes, and because of this, smugglers have taken advantage of the lapses to engage in the illicit trade activities. But what the government is saying is that they are not preventing them from bringing goods into Nigeria, but they should go through the seaports or the airports where we can effectively manage the process. So I do not think there is anything bad in closing the border.
Also, in terms of the gains, they are many. It is not only in rice and other commodities sectors. Let us look at poultry; a lot of poultry farmers have had contracts for the next three to five years and local production of poultry products have grown as the sector is currently booming, which was not so before now.
Has it translated to more employment?
Much more employment is being generated in the agricultural sector. In the poultry sector alone more youths are being attracted into it, not to talk about other agricultural sub-sectors and their value chains. This has made farming more attractive and if it continues, Nigeria would not only become self-sufficient in food production, we will start exporting.
Has this affected the inflation rate?
Though the inflation rate may be going up now with two to three percent, which is marginal, but I will advise Nigerians to exercise patience because it will pay off in less than six months from now. It will definitely come down because there would be more and more production activities in Nigeria for this policy moves. When you consider textile, rice and every other sectors, you will note a positive shift in terms of sectoral performance.
Besides, the savings Nigeria has made from the petroleum sector shows that Nigeria has been subsidising the product for the whole of West Africa all these years. Over 40 percent of our national budget has been going into petroleum subsidy for the whole of West Africa, but with this policy, we are saving so much from the petroleum products that used to go to other countries free of charge.
How did it affect security?
It has been established that a lot of fire arms come into the country through the borders. So with this border closure, you will notice that high rate of crime has been addressed because the security operatives are more effective, as the border is better secured than it used to be, and goods that come into the county are now better monitored than it used to be.
Do you advise that it remains permanently closed?
We are not saying that it should not be reopened, but that the neighbouring countries should act according to the ECOWAS treaty. There are terms and conditions of the relationship, all these laws have been there but they have always disregarded it. So, Nigeria cannot keep playing the big brother that they will run out of economy. What Nigeria is saying is that if they play by the rules, the border would be re-opened. However, the closure is good for the industrial sector, it is good for the farmers, and it is good for us to improve our productive capacities. Finally, I will advise the government that the border remains closed until our land neighbors play to the rule of ECOWAS trade treaty.
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