Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has described the partial closure of Nigeria’s land borders as an eye-opener to the potentials of the country.
President Buhari stated this on Tuesday during an audience with the outgoing President of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and his successor, Dr George Nana Donkor, at the State House in Abuja.
According to the President, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the decision to close the borders had given Nigeria a number of insights.
It would be recalled that neighbours of Nigeria on the West African coast had in the wake of the border closure appealed for a reassessment of the decision, situation which led to the constitution of a tripartite committee, including Nigeria, Benin Republic Niger Republic, to harmonise interests on the matter.
President Buhari, however promised that Nigeria would be ready to abide by the decision of the committee as soon as its report is made available.
‘‘We have saved millions of dollars. We have realised that we don’t have to import rice. We have achieved food security.
READ ALSO: Border closure: Buhari orders crackdown on rogue security agents
‘‘We have curtailed the importation of drugs and proliferation of small arms which threaten our country,’’ the President said.
President Buhari thanked the outgoing ECOWAS Bank President for the improvements recorded in his eight-year tenure and urged his successor to build on those achievements.
The outgoing bank chief informed the President that the bank had been transformed from loss-making to profit, with commitments from ECOWAS member-states doubling to 1.4 billion dollars.
Dr Donkor, the incoming president, thanked the Nigerian leader and its people for their support in his emergence.
‘‘Without Nigeria, I could not have emerged,’’ he said.
He gave credit to President Buhari’s economic strategies captured under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), noting that it has brought about economic recovery, stability and food security in the country.
He pledged total commitment to partnering with Nigeria towards achieving rapid development in the country and the rest of West Africa.
Leave a Reply