The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Hameed Ibrahim Ali, has said that the closure of Nigeria’s land borders is an action taken towards making the country great.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, Ali said China closed its borders to the whole world for 40 years, “and today it is considered a great nation”.
He said, “This border closure has created pressure. The suffering of the Nigerian citizens is dumbfounding. Before now, we have poor people; before now we have people who could not afford three-square meals; before now we have people who couldn’t find jobs. So, for anybody to believe that the border closure is the reason for the hardship in the country is completely dumbfounding. There are no statistics to support that claim. The border closure is a win-win for Nigeria.
“Farmers in Abakaliki who could not sell a truck of millet a week, now do so in a day, Go to Kebbi and ask those farmers how business is now. People are beginning to invest in our agricultural system.
“Why do we need to be fed by foreigners? At what point do we begin to truly feel independent? Any country or nation that cannot feed itself cannot claim independence Because the crux is that once there is a diplomatic misunderstanding, they will close the gap. What happens then? Hence, we must grow Nigeria. We must eat and drink Nigeria. Even China closed its borders to the whole world for 40 years and today it is considered a great nation. Don’t you want to be a great Nigeria?”
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.