On Sub-Standard Goods Importation

Recently, there were reports of importation of substandard tyres by two Chinese into the country.  The tyres, estimated at over N5 billion, were found in a warehouse in Lagos, and have since been confiscated by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
This is not an isolated case, as thousands of other similar cases abound. Virtually every week, fake and substandard products keep streaming into the country with the connivance of many Nigerians with some foreigners.
Statistics from relevant authorities indicate that between 55 and 80 percent of imported goods (food, beverages, poultry and pharmaceutical products, among others), are either fake, adulterated or sub-standard.
According to World Bank report, illegal importation of goods from neighbouring countries  into Nigeria is estimated at over N750 billion yearly, an amount that ordinarily would have shored up the nation’s dwindling revenue profile.
The Tide is particularly worried by these revelations, considering the fact that fake and substandard products are life-threatening. We wonder how these fake and substandard goods get into the country despite the army of agencies at the Nigerian ports.
Also, not too long ago, the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA) lamented that over 80 percent of textile materials sold in Nigeria is smuggled into the country, thereby threatening local textile industries.
Similarly, indigenous rice growers, farmers and investors also claim that over 80,000 metric tones of rice worth more than N110 billion is smuggled into Nigeria yearly.
Worst still, reports of fake tomato pastes, jollof rice, plastic rice, Indian garri, fake and sub-standard pharmaceuticals, poultry products and beverages, among others, considered unfit and injurious to human health, are found in shops, local markets, warehouses, parks and other public places.
Unfortunately, most, if not all of these goods, enter the Nigerian shores with the active connivance of unpatriotic importers with security officials who compromise standards and short-change the system just for their selfish interest.
It is, indeed, worrisome that government officials paid with tax payers money, who statutorily are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the seizure or confiscation of such dangerous goods, turn blind eye and allow such goods into the country.
We, therefore, urge the Federal Government to be committed towards ensuring that the unwholesome activities of smugglers are addressed squarely by ensuring that the entry points of these goods are effectively policed by relevant agencies.
The Tide  thinks that an overhaul of our security system and relevant agencies saddled with clearing of imported goods is imperative.
Nigeria, from all indications, is fast becoming a dumping ground for all manner of fake, adulterated and sub-standard goods, and except some drastic measures are taken, the lives of the citizenry would be endangered.
We urge the Nigerian Customs Services, Immigrations, SON, National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Federal Ministry of Health and all other relevant bodies to collaborate to stem these illicit activities of smugglers and their collaborators within the government agencies.
We believe that regulation of what is being imported into the country should go beyond collecting import duties. The Nigeria Customs and other relevant agencies should ensure that goods entering into the country meet national and international standards. Most deaths could have been avoided if only these officials had done the needful and did not short-change the system.
It is against this backdrop that we call for the speedy prosecution of the two Chinese and their collaborators for importing fake tyres into Nigeria. This will serve as a deterrent to others.
We implore the media, the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation Agency (NOA) to sensitise Nigerians on the need to keep a watchful eye on what they buy and consume,  as well as patronise made-in-Nigeria products.
By this, Nigerians would not only escape fake and substandard imports, but would also help in rejigging the economy.