Hameed Ibrahim Ali , the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service said in an interview that the decision to close the border is an important gesture to grow the Nigerian economy.
Hameed said:
“This border closure has created pressure or 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 can not feed itself can not 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?” he added.
He urged all citizens to remain patient as the closure of the border is indeed in our interest.
