Nigeria engaging neighbours on border reopening — Adeniyi

By Bolaji Ogundele

The Federal Government says it is advancing consultations on plans to reopen the nation’s land borders with neighbouring counties, meeting representatives of the affected countries on ways forward.

Adewale Adeniyi, the comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), disclosed this while fielding questions from State House journalists, in Abuja on Tuesday, shortly after the inauguration of the National Single Window Project. He said he had been in touch with his counterparts in Benin and Niger Republics.

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Adeniyi said the government was still investigating issues that led to the closure of the borders in the first place, adding that the Federal Government will eliminate those issues before the borders can be reopened

“We want to ensure that such issues never reoccur and I can assure you that we are already making progress in that direction.”

He commended President Bola Tinubu-led administration’s efforts towards strengthening the nation’s economy, particularly through the newly launched National Single Window Project.

“I am not really sure if Mr. President mentioned the word ‘border’ during the inauguration of the steering committee, but honestly, this provides us with an opportunity to mention something because the single window system is seen as a coordinated border management system.

“First, let me express my sincere delight and appreciation to Mr. President for making this happen. This is not the first time an attempt like this has been made, but over the years, we’ve had situations where some kind of power play has characterised the implementation of the single windows.

“So, we’re happy that this time we have a situation where Mr. President has demonstrated commitment and strong will. These are critical success factors for the implementation of any project, particularly a project like the Single Window that is collaborative.

“In terms of opening the land borders, consultations are already in progress, some of them are very high level. Over the last weekend, I had an interaction with my colleagues in Benin Republic; earlier I’ve gone to our borders with Niger Republic.

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“We are looking at the issues that led to the closure of the border in the first instance and we are working to ensure that those things do not repeat themselves and I’m happy to say that we are making steady progress,” Adeniyi said.