Indications have emerged that Nigeria may soon reopen its borders, which were shut in August last year, to full economic activities.
Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, said at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to receive reports on the border closure soon.
Ahmed, while responding to a question on when Nigerian borders would be reopened, said the president would soon receive a report of a presidential committee to advise on the reopening of the borders, although she did not give details of the content of the report.
She said the committee set up by President Buhari had done an assessment of the gains of the closure and had recommended to the president to reopen the borders. The committee has as members the ministers of finance, budget and national planning, interior, and foreign affairs.
Ahmed said once members of the committee sign the report, it would be submitted, but she was silent on the day of submission and also on possible date of reopening the borders.
Nigeria, the largest economy and the most prosperous of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), had in August last year shut its land borders on account of illegal importation of drugs, small arms and agricultural products into Nigeria from neighbouring countries.
The closure, however, caused economic hardships for local manufacturers as traditional economic activities between Nigeria and its ECOWAS neighbours were disrupted by the policy.
The reopening of the borders is, therefore, seen as a major step that will help boost economic activities in Nigeria which slipped into recession the second time in four years after contracting by 3.62 percent in the third quarter of this year.
Ahmed had at a roundtable discussion at the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #26) given the assurance that the borders would be reopened soon.
“We have made an assessment. The president set up a committee and we have made an assessment and all the members of the committee agreed and are recommending to the president that it is time to reopen the borders,” Ahmed told the audience at the NES #26.
“The objective has been met in the sense that we have been able, over these couple of months, to work together with our partners in a tripartite committee and do a joint border patrol together and reinforced the sanctity of the commitments that we made to each other.
“So, each side has learnt its lesions. Nigeria has been affecting our partners in terms of businesses that we have in Nigeria as well. So, we will be expecting that the borders will be reopened very soon. The date will be decided by Mr President,” she said.
Also briefing the State House Correspondents after the FEC meeting, Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, said the Council approved award of contracts for emergency procurement of first and second quarters 2020 soil erosion/flood and pollution control accelerated intervention projects in favour of various contractors in the sum of N17.754,717,234.41 inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT with various completion/delivery periods.
