Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Monday listed benefits of the current border closure to include increased patronage of Nigeria’s home-grown rice, poultry products and jobs creation
Emefiele, who stated this while speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammmadu Buhari on Monday, noted that despite the complaints about the border closure, rice millers and poultry farmers were smiling to the banks.
According to Emefiele, “A week after the borders were closed, the same rice millers association called to tell us that all the rice that they had in their warehouses have all been sold. Indeed, a lot of people have been depositing money in their accounts and they have even been telling them ‘please hold on don’t even pay money yet until we finished processing your rice.’
“The Poultry Associations have also come to say that they have sold all their eggs, they have sold all their processed chickens and that demand is rising.”
The CBN governor, who disclosed that the borders would not be closed perpetually, however, stated, “Before the borders will be reopened, there must be concrete engagements with countries that are involved in using their ports and countries as landing ports for bringing in goods that are smuggled into Nigeria.
“That engagement must be held so that we agree on the basis under which conditions the kinds of products they import can land in their countries, because if those products they land in their countries are meant for their own local consumption, it is understandable.
“So when you asked, what is the benefit, the benefit of the border closure on the economy of Nigeria, I just used two products – poultry and rice.
“The benefit is that it has helped to create jobs for our people, it has helped to bring our integrated rice milling that we have in the country back into business again and they are making money.
“The closure has also led to increased economic activities in the rural communities as rice and maize farmers have increased production with attendant increase in revenue generated
“The poultry business is also doing well, and also maize farmers who produce maize from which feeds are produced are also doing business. These are the benefits.”
He recalled that the launch of the Wet Season Rice Farming in November 2015, by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank and some state governors in Kebbi State under the CBN Anchor Growers Programme led to increase in production of local rice.
According to him, “We have seen an astronomical growth in the number of farmers who have been going into rice farming and our paddy production has gone up also quite exponentially. Between 2015 and also now, we have also seen an astronomical rise in the number of companies, corporate and individuals that are setting up mills, integrated mills and even small mills in the various areas.”
He noted that the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had been the centre of not just only encouraging the production of rice in Nigeria but also funding these farmers by giving them loans to buy seedlings, fertilizers or some of the herbicides they need for their rice production.
“You will all recall that we have been embarking on a programme where we are saying if you are involved in the business of smuggling or dumping of rice in the country, we close your account in the banking industry. Although that is coming very effectively,” he said.
Tracing reasons for the closure, he said cries by the rice and poultry farmers had led to the President’s decisions to shutdown borders
“Chairman of the Rice Processors Association, incidentally, he owns Umza Rice in Kano. He called me and said that all the rice millers and processors are carrying in their warehouses nothing less than 25,000 metric tons of milled rice.
“That this rice has been unsold because of the smuggling and dumping of rice through Republic of Benin and other border posts that we have in the country and that he would want us to do something about it.
“Secondly, we also have members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria who also complained that they have thousands of crates of eggs that they could not sell together with even some of the processed chickens that they could not sell also arising from problem of smuggling and dumping of poultry products into Nigeria.
“ But the fact that those product are landed in their countries and then transshipped or smuggled into Nigeria is something that I am sure you all agree as Nigerians we should not allow to happened because it undermines our economic policy, it undermines our own desire to make sure that industries are alive and jobs are created in Nigeria.
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
