The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) has defended the 2019 border closure, which he said was to discourage the import of food, especially rice, and boost local production.
Speaking during the commissioning of the new Customs Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari said he wanted Nigerians to grow what they eat or die trying.
He said, “Nigeria is favoured. We have people, land and weather. How many nations are so lucky as Nigeria in the world? Very few nations are as lucky as we are. So, closing that border, over 1,600km, from Lake Chad to Benin, and Nigerians insist that they have to impress their neighbours and other people, then they eat foreign rice. I said no rice. You either eat what you grow, you grow what you eat, or you die. I tried to make my point and later Nigerians appreciated it.”
He revealed that the deliberate closure of the borders was prompted by the prevalent practice of Nigerians ordering rice, diverting some to neighbouring countries, and bringing the remainder back into the country.
Highlighting Nigeria’s vast potential in terms of resources, population, arable land, and favourable weather conditions, Buhari underscored the importance of self-sufficiency.
He stated that closing the border was intended to encourage Nigerians to consume what they produce, particularly in terms of rice.
A former member of the National Assembly, who represented the Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th Senate, Shehu Sani, had said the closure of Nigeria’s land borders did not yield any result.
Sani said the closure of the borders rather worsened the economic situation of the country and inflicted hardship on Nigerians.
Also, stakeholders in the manufacturing sector, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria’s Export Group and the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had taken a swipe at the Federal Government over the prolonged closure of borders.
At the commission of the Customs Headquarters, Buhari also addressed the appointment of Hameed Ali as the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, citing his experience and competence.
In his remark, Comptroller-General, Ali, commended the president’s intervention in combating corruption within the NCS.
In addition, Buhari flaunted his filial relationship with his kith and kin in the Niger Republic as a safeguard against any act of retribution from fellow Nigerians when he leaves office on May 29.
With six days to go, Buhari said he had built personal and cordial relationships with neighbouring countries, stressing that should anyone disturb him in Nigeria, his Niger Republic neighbours would defend him.
He said, “I said these few things about my personal belief because I have only six more days to go. And I try to plan to be as far away from Abuja as possible. I came from an area which is far away from Abuja. I said if anybody with force moves, I have a good relationship with my neighbours. Niger people will defend me.”
Buhari also said that he deliberately appointed women to be ministers of finance in his eight years in office to ward off disturbances from people looking for the award of contracts and payment of contract sums.
He said, “I deliberately appointed ladies so that it will give me a lot of peace. I made sure I gave the Ministry of Finance to a lady to exploit the cultural behaviour of all Nigerians: once ladies are in charge, people feel too big to go to ladies. So, I am sure peace will be allowed in the Ministry of Finance where people will go and lobby for their contracts to be paid and so on. So, they feel too big to go to ladies. So, I put a lady in charge. That gave me a lot of peace.”
