President of Benin Republic Patrice Talon has intensified effort to avert Nigeria’s planned border closure with neighbouring countries over unending incidence of smuggling.
The Benenoise leader who was in Abuja recently for the umpteenth time, met with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed doors. There has been unease in Benin economic community since the announcement of planned border closure by Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, as Nigeria is viewed as the country’s largest neighbour trade partner.
Benin is widely believed to have, over the years, been promoting smuggling of prohibited items into Nigeria by opening its port in Cotonou up for importation of many consumer goods and commodities for eventual smuggling into Nigeria.
Rice and vehicles have been identified as top two items being smuggled into Nigeria from Benin with massive seizures being made by Nigeria Customs Service.Since the banning of these two items from importation to Nigeria through land borders in 2017, there has been a persistent shipments into Benin by vessels from Europe and Asia targeting Nigeria as destination market through smuggling.
Though President Buhari had tweeted on his official tweeter handle that Nigeria is setting up a joint committee to combat smuggling, he has been silent about about the planned border closure by the minister . Buhari said the recent collaboration with Benin is to boost his administration’s drive to enhance local capacity for rice cultivation and self sufficiency
Part of Buhari’s tweet reads ”President Talon of Benin and I agreed to set up a Joint Committee to combat smuggling. We will also be working with Niger Republic on the issue.
Smuggling continues to pose significant economic & security risks to Nigeria, and we must do everything we can to tackle it”
Buhari added that “Even though Nigeria has, in the last three years, succeeded in cutting the importation by about 90 per cent, parboiled rice is still being smuggled into the country, discouraging our farmers and undermining our goal of self-sufficiency in rice production. This is why we must act.”
In a statement by Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Talon was quoted to have condemned smuggling , saying it affects the trade relations of both countries.
“We are aware of how rice smuggling is affecting the development of local capacity in rice farming in Nigeria.
“It is affecting trade between us negatively and Nigeria is an important partner for a country like Benin.
“But we have no powers to block goods meant for other countries, and our country is not the final destination for the smuggled rice. We need to develop a common will to face the problem” Talon was quoted as saying.
Nigerian government had in the past donated several vehicles to support Benin in the joint fight against smuggling and insecurity with the vehicles being converted to private use by Benin officials.Investigations also reveal that some businessmen had hidden under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) to import goods manufactured outside the regional bloc in a bid to avert duty payment and shortchange the Nigerian government.
The ETLS seeks to promote trade among West African countries through a duty free regime that has been abused in the past