The Nigerian government has closed or shut down its land borders since August 19 to stop the importation or smuggling of illegal small arms, food like rice and non-essential items.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, said there was possibility for reopening the land borders.
The recent shutdown of land borders has positively boosted our economy as many companies grounded due to importation or smuggling of similar products became functional thereby boosting employment.
The shutting down of the land borders also encouraged our farmers to cultivate huge areas of land thereby boosting their income while revenue generated by the government also increased.
The reopening of our land borders may affect our domestic production, if adequate measures are not taken. It is feared that goods and services will now be coming from abroad legally or illegally and this may affect employment.
Also the reopening of the land borders may affect the farmers as they have to compete with products imported or smuggled into the country.
So there is a need for the government to consider, before the reopening the land borders, how to protect our farmers and the likely result of unemployment the situation may bring.
Government should also consider the likely spike in insecurity especially in border communities.
I hope the government will think twice before reopening our land borders to avoid increased smuggling of arms and goods that will jeorpadise the progress of the country.
Alhaji Musa Muhammad Hadejia. ([email protected])
