Ten days after making a public pronouncement to shut the nation’s borders to curb rice smuggling through land borders, investigations by Newsclickng.com have revealed that the federal government is yet to issue any official order to that effect.
Though the government did not reveal the particular border to be shut, however a quick check by Newsclickng.com on the major borders revealed that normal activities (particular rice import) is ongoing without any form of hindrance.
Recall that the federal government last week said it will shut down the land border between Nigeria and a neigbouring country in a few days time to avoid smuggling of foreign rice into the country.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, made the disclosure in Abuja last Monday while speaking with youths in a leadership clinic under the auspices of Guardians of the Nation International (GOTNI).
Ogbeh explained that shutting the borders had become necessary to encourage local production and sustain the economy of the country.
The minister said that a neighbouring country was bent on destroying the economy of the country and discouraging local production of rice, hence the need to shut down the border.
“Our other problem is smuggling. As we speak, a neighbor of ours is importing more rice than China is importing.
“They do not eat parboiled rice, they eat white rice, they use their ports to try and damage our economy.
“I am telling you now because in a few days, you will hear the border has been shut, we are going to shut it to protect you, us and protect our economy.
“You will start seeing all sorts of negative things on the internet.
“Let me tell you why we need to shut the border, I grow rice, I was the first Nigerian to mill rice free of stones, if you plant rice in certain parcels of land, some poisonous materials gets into the rice.
“There are three kinds of water in their natural state; there is fresh water from the river, salt water from the sea, blackish water.
“If you go to the Delta in many countries, in South East Asia where they grow the rice, if you plant rice in the same place like four to six years continuously, the quantum of arsenic begins to increase and arsenic causes cancer and that is what they are dumping for us.
“Some people say they prefer Thai rice because they are very sophisticated, welcome to poison,’’ Ogbeh said.
However, speaking in an exclusive interview Newsclickng.com on Thursday, the Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC), Mr. Maiwada said the agency was yet to receive any order whatsoever from the federal government on shutting any of the land border.
“Government formulates policies and we implement such policies. So, whatever government directs us to do is what we will do. We are policy implementers. If government in good spirit identifies some goods not to be imported into the country through land borders, it is our duty to pursue such to the letter. But for now we have not receive such order from the government,” Maiwada said.
Asked if he was aware of the particular border to be shut, Maiwada said: “I’m not aware of the particular border to be shut. I’m not in a position to speak on such.”
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Meanwhile, mixed reactions have trailed the proposed border closure with many insisting that the decision will rather increase smuggling rather than curbing or stopping it out rightly.
A Retired Comptroller, Nigeria Immigration Service, Kwara State Command, Mr Chime Nwachukwu said:
“Closing land borders is just a political decision which can be taken between neighbouring countries. There are two types of borders. There are legal and illegal borders. The legal routes are patronised by genuine travellers and businessmen. The illegal routes are patronised by illegal migrants and smugglers. The illegal routes are everywhere, all over Nigeria. Sadly, illegal routes are more vibrant than the legal routes. There are numerous security agencies that man these borders.
Despite the presence of these agencies and their personnel, smuggling and illegal migration appear to be on the increase. These illegal routes are used by corrupt officials to illegally bridge the gap between their legitimate income and the realities of the times. Of course, the excuse is that, government remuneration can’t take care of the transportation of poorly maintained officials let alone their families. It is a fact that our security officials given the responsibility of manning our porous borders are poorly remunerated.
So, the root cause of the rise in cases of smuggling cannot be separated from the poor welfare of officers and men on the field. Some of these people out of desperation bend the rules for personal gain. If these borders are closed, it will only affect the legal routes. The only thing it will do to the illegal routes is to increase activities and of course some of these officials will take advantage of the situation.
Therefore, closing the border will rather than solve the problem, increase smuggling. A substantial part of the problem will be reduced if you take adequate care of security officials by paying greater attention to their welfare, training and equipment. Even when officials want to be patriotic, they will be risking their lives engaging better equipped smugglers with more sophisticated weapons and vehicles.
Officials lobby their superiors to be posted to such illegal routes which are regarded as juicy. There is a fraternity between some government officials and smugglers for mutual benefit. Let our goods go and we grease your palms. There are two alternatives, take the smugglers’ option and get welfare, or decide to do your job and be ready for battle. If the officials decide to face battle, do they have the capacity in terms of men and materials? The officials operate with outdated weapons and rickety vehicles. The smugglers carry sophisticated weapons and vehicles that suit the terrains.
There should be concerted efforts by the government to properly equip our security officials, have regular consultations with operating officers and know what their challenges are. Fix those challenges, and then when you close borders it will be effective.”
A local rice manufacturer also opined thus: “Closing land border won’t reduce smuggling of rice because the borders are too porous. The borders cannot be effectively closed down or managed. Since they closed Seme border, rice has been coming in through Cameroon and Togo. Togo is the new route. The entry point is no longer Lagos but the North and some areas of Ogun State. They smuggle rice using motorcycles. I even have photo evidence of this.
The government should not dwell so much on closure of borders. If they want to encourage local production, they should impose an outright ban on imported rice. We are in that position where we have to come to terms with the fact that not eating rice will never kill anybody. If they want to encourage rice production organically, let the supply be driven by demand. If people want it desperately, the private sector including subsistence farmers will grow theirs.
If there is a zero tolerance for imported rice, it would be more effective than closure of borders. If you are going to close borders, you might as well allow the rice in through the ports at a reasonable rate and then use the levies and duty paid on the imports to grow local rice production. If they don’t do this but resort to just shutting the borders, they make smuggling more attractive. If you look at rice production, you first have seeds. Most of the factors used in seed production are imported.
The fertilisers are imported, the pesticides are imported, herbicides are imported, tractors are imported, land-tilling equipment are also imported. The irrigation machines are imported as well as the diesel which you use in powering the machines. So, we are still at the mercy of the dollar. How are we expected to compete with rice coming in from a country where everything is subsidised and the rice comes through borders that are porous? You can’t compete. So, if you are going to ban rice, place an outright ban on imported rice. South Africa did it and their citizens didn’t die. In the 1950s, people used to travel from Ibadan to Lagos to eat rice. It is only now that rice has become a phenomenon. Rice is just another form of carbohydrate which can be substituted in the interim. The closure of borders will only make things worse.”
