A former National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu has said that Nigerians need to rethink their lifestyles and reduce dependence on imported items, as a means of reducing pressure on the national currency.
Prince Shittu said this on Monday while speaking with SHIPS & PORTS on rising import duties and customs tariffs as a result of the rapidly declining value of the naira.
Recall that this year alone, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have increased the naira/dollar exchange rate used to benchmark import duty four times. The present exchange rate for computing import duties, as indicated on the customs portal is N1,444.56 to the dollar. It was N422.30/$ when the Tinubu administration was inaugurated in May last year. This implies that import duty has been increased by 342% in seven months of the Tinubu government.
“Our need to impress others and wear Italian jeans or Netherlands clothing is the reason why a lot of unneeded items are imported but between you and me, you discover that shoes made in Abba can still last as the ones from Italy but because our style is to wear what is trending; that is the problem.
“If the naira today is N1,444.56 to the dollar and less people demand for the dollar, then it means instead of N1,444.56, it can reduce to N1,200 and then N1,000 as the case may be but as long as everyone is hustling to get the dollar because of importation, we will not move forward,” Prince Shittu said.