Shipping Expert Calls For Border Closure Review

A shipping expert, Christian Timi, has urged the federal government to review the border closure with a view to addressing the plights of the local exporters.
Timi who made the call in a chat with The Tide in Port Harcourt, on Monday, said that the total closure of land border was not in the interest of local business.
Timi observed that following the border closure, some companies that have their branches and subsidiaries outside the country, could no longer export their products to such places, stressing that the move was capable of throwing those companies out of business.
He said that although the border closure was meant to improve Nigeria’s economic growth, it was not given a holistic approach.
He also described the idea of banning commodities that could be produced in the country from coming in as a laudable one, but pointed out that there were small businesses that used raw materials from neighbouring African countries and made-in-Nigeria products that need to be exported.
He lamented that both imports and exports were affected by the border closure and therefore needs review “so that businesses in Nigeria would not be hurt and put out of operation”.
According to him, the border closure has not actually put a stop to smuggling, but has rather opened new pathways for smugglers, stressing that the government should critically take a second look at the policy.

Tonye Nria-Dappa