More stakeholders on Wednesday called for the reopening of Land Borders closed since August 20, 2020.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed has explained that a panel has submitted its report.
In a related development, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has frowned at the disruptions and losses that businesses and individuals have suffered as a result of the prolonged border closure. It said companies, a large number of informal sector players, and individuals doing legitimate businesses across the borders have been crippled.
LCCI Director-General, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said following the closure of the land borders: “Jobs have been lost, prices have skyrocketed, legitimate exports to the sub-region have been halted, intermediate products for some manufacturers have been cut off and some multinational companies have been de-linked from their sister companies in the sub-region.
“The economies of border communities have been paralysed with consequences for unemployment and poverty. Over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s trade with the West African sub-region is by road. We export manufactured products as well as agricultural products, detergents, toothpastes, plastic products, steel products, kitchen utensils, grains, ginger, onions, among others. We also undertake many re-exports to the sub region. These are sources of livelihood of Nigerians doing legitimate businesses.”
Dr. Yusuf said there are also thousands of transporters who make a living from legitimate trading activities running into hundreds of billions of naira. He advised the government to weigh the costs and benefits adding that often, government fails to count the cost of its policy on the citizens and businesses.
The LCCI chief said the contribution of trade and commerce to the economy should not be underestimated as distributive trade sector accounts for about 15 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to him, traders play a major role in the value chain of the real sector activities in the economy as it is perhaps the largest employer of labour in the nation’s economy.
He argued that the position of LCCI on the border closure is not to diminish the importance of security in the border management process but for government to deal with neighboring countries identified as sabotaging government efforts to curb smuggling and check insecurity.
