Since the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan assumed office in May 2009 he had embarked on deliberate policies aimed at making life more meaningful for the ordinary citizens who have been pauperised by anti-people policies of previous administrations. One such development which Nigerians will never forget in a hurry and which has endeared him so much to the people, is the fact of making petroleum products readily available at filling stations, even at festive periods, and at the reach of the rich and humble.

No need to add that the availability of petroleum products is the master stroke that places him ahead of others in the presidential race, especially ahead of those that have been in power either as vice presidents or whatever, not to mention the dramatic improvement in electricity supply across the country since he took over. With his determination to overhaul the nation’s security system and make it more proactive in the protection of lives and property of citizens and guarantee influx of foreign investors to boost the economy, no one is left in doubt that this administration means well for a greater percentage of the populace.

It is in this light that stakeholders are viewing the recent lifting of the ban on the importation of vehicles older than 10 years into the country by this administration.

This decision which was conveyed by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga last November indicated that any vehicle manufactured 15 years ago is now free to enter the nation’s sea ports for customs clearance.

In short, a number of other items were said to have been removed from the import prohibition list by Mr. President. The other products are cassava, toothpicks, furniture, textile fabrics, embroidered fabric and made up garments. Besides, the President also approved an import duty of 10 per cent on the vehicles. Following from this policy pronouncement various stakeholders have aired different views as to its economic justification or otherwise. Some have criticised the policy as ill-timed in view of the huge sum of N500 billion recently released to boost the manufacturing sector which they insist needed some protection from cheaper foreign goods. They also contend that the plan could lead to Nigeria becoming a dumping ground for an assortment of old vehicles which are being rejected in other countries on account of emission of dangerous and environmentally unfriendly gases. However, other stakeholders have hailed the policy saying that since Nigeria is the destination of over 90 percent of the vehicles which are imported through other West African ports, there is no point depriving the country of the revenue derivable from import duties on the vehicles.

To support this position, acting chairman, Port Consultative Council, Mr. Kunle Folarin lauded government decision to review the age limit of imported used cars but insisted that the customs duty payable on the old cars be increased. This Folarin argued was necessary to limit the proliferation of broken down vehicles imported into Nigeria.

Corroborating this view, the chairman, Board of Trustees, National Association of Government Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, Mr. Usman Sanusi described the policy as a welcome development which could throw smugglers out of business, adding that it would be better if government would allow more cars to come in instead of losing revenue to neighbouring countries.

All said, the policy is capable of having very wide ranging positive and negative effects on Nigeria’s economy. The country, no doubt, need to diversify its sources of revenue in order to accommodate the myraid of problems now challenging the government, ranging from inadequate funding of educational and health institutions to combating the frighteningly growing incidence of insecurity now pervading the land.

The level of insecurity is heightened by the fact that no day passes without reports over the seizure of arms and ammunitions from the country’s sea ports or from its land borders by security operatives, not even as we believe that some of such illegal cargo must have slipped past security dragnets.

It therefore behoves the security agencies to put their acts together on how to combat the possibility of unscrupulous importers using the leverage of their cargo-ships which would now berth at Nigerian ports, to import more arms and ammunition into the country, particularly in view of the need to ensure free, fair elections in April this year.

This alarm is pertinent if pronouncements of some aspirants, who have vowed to make violent change imperative, because they could perceive their defeat at the polls ahead of time, is anything to go by. Moreover, recent bombing incidents in parts of the country during the yuletide and the New Year celebrations should give every well-meaning Nigerian cause to be worried over security measures being put in place to guarantee safety of the electorate during voters registration exercise and the election proper. Therefore, before we throw our ports open for the old cars to come in, plans must be concluded by the security agencies and port operators to ensure unscrupulous importers do not abuse the opportunity by importing weapons instead of cars, hence the need for more security alertness in the implementation of the new policy on Tokunbo cars.

Thomas Abbey