Expert advices Buhari to stand his ground on border closure
An Economist, Dr Jire Ogunyemi has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to hold up to his decision on the closure of border, saying the policy on border closure has created a formidable economic direction for Nigeria. He urged the president to consider the economic well-being of Nigerian populace over any consideration irrespective of global pressure to act otherwise.
Ogunyemi said the decision to close land borders in Nigeria has also exposed, “dangerous economic loopholes ” that are militating against growth and development for many decades. The expert made this known while speaking with the press over the weekend, on alleged presidential order to reopen all land borders by January 2020. He stressed that such move could be counterproductive and inimical to economic advancement of Nigeria, adding that the closure has started yielding positive results within a short time. According to him, the policy has dual advantage of boosting the local production as well as creating employment for teeming unemployed Nigerian youths, asides helping to curb the menace of proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Ogunyemi further argued that the turn of economic trends in Africa and parts of Asia calls for thorough and stringent monetary policy to survive. Any discerning Nigerian must support the presidency on this; the decision to close nation’s land borders for the purpose of saving our country from becoming a mere dumping ground is long overdue, it is a greatest economic measure Nigeria urgently needs. One can infer the inherent benefit of the closure from the recent testimony made by Nigeria Customs Service, where it declared that the accruing revenue to the agency has become triple since the closure. Also there is an aggressive drive for local production of some goods, especially agricultural produce, in which more people would be employed and thereby cut down the rate of unemployment. The long-time effect of the closure will positively affect our internal security architecture, by reducing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, which has aggravated insurgency and banditry in many parts of Nigeria. The president must consider this huge advantage coming from border closure against any other interest,” he submitted.
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