Col. Hameed Ali
The Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed
Ali, on Friday insisted that closure of boarders will continue for a
while irrespective of the pressure from the nation’s neighbours to
reopen them.
He said that Nigeria has to first think of her survival before considering the impact of the closure on neighbours.
According to him, Nigeria must lay the foundation for its growth in order to prop her industrialists to reason and grow.
Without taking the strategic step to sanitize her system, the Customs
boss said that Nigeria will become a dumping ground for all manner of
products when the African Continental Free Trade takes off in earnest.
He spoke as the Special Guest of Honour at the Graduation Ceremony of
Senior Course 3 in of the Nigerian Customs and Staff College,
Gwagwalada, Abuja.
He was thankful to the Nigerian Police Force, whom he said their support for the boarder closure was awesome.
He noted that Nigeria is blessed with the population of 200million that
can consume all her products, which renders the immediate need for
external patronage inexpedient.
He recalled that the Chinese had shut their boarders for over two
decades, stressing that the country is now the strongest economy.
His words: “ It is our hope that the boarder drill will continue for
a while so that we cannot only sanitize our process but we can also lay
the foundation for our growth and development because that is what we
need to get our industrialists think and grow.
“If we don’t do that, we are going to be in deep problem. By the time we
begin to operate the African Continental Free Trade, Nigeria will be a
dumping ground for every product from Africa. So, we need to be able to
develop our capacity to be able to meet our requirements in terms of
goods and services so that we can keep at bay the influx of other goods.
“If we don’t, these goods will come and our industries will continue to
die. So we look forward to a situation whereby our industrialists will
capitalize on this drill that we are doing so that they can grow and
provide those things that we need. The Chinese closed their doors for
over 20 years and now they are on top.
“We need to close our own. There is nothing that is being produced today
that we cannot consume in Nigeria. Our industrialists do not have to
look outward to find the market, we have it right here. And we need to
grow that market.
“I hope that Nigerians will agree with us that while we are doing this
drill, I know that our neighbours are in a haste to get us open the
boarders, I think we need to look at our strategic interest first before
looking at other people.”