Emefiele said this on Monday while speaking to journalists after a meeting with President
The federal government had closed the country’s land borders to importing and exporting of all items in a bid to curb illegal trading activities by Nigeria’s neighbours.
Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS),had said that
Despite several calls by stakeholders for the re-opening of the borders, Emefiele said the affected countries must first have “concrete engagements” on mutual
He explained that the smuggling of goods through these countries undermines Nigeria’s economic policy.
“We are not saying that the borders should be closed in perpetuity, but that before the borders are reopened, there must be concrete engagements with
“But the fact that those products are landed in their countries and then transshipped or smuggled into Nigeria
Emefiele further said that the country’s rice and
“Recently, and this is the absolute truth, about two weeks before the border closure, the chairman of the Rice Processors Association, incidentally, he owns Umza Rice in Kano, called me and said that all the rice
“Secondly, we also have members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria who also complained that they have thousands of crates of eggs that they could not sell together with even some of the processed chickens also arising from the problem
“A week after the borders were closed, the same rice millers association called to tell us that all the rice that they had in their warehouses have all been sold. Indeed, a lot of people have been depositing money in
“The Poultry Associations have also come to say that they have sold all their eggs, they have sold all their processed chickens and
According to him, the improved sale of rice and poultry products is the benefit of closing the borders.
“So when you asked, what is the benefit of the border closure on the economy of Nigeria, I just used two products – poultry and rice.
backed Nigeria’s closure of its borders.