FG will open borders for commercial activities soon, says lawmaker

By Abubakar Yunusa

Sesi Whingan, a member of the house of representatives from Lagos state, says the federal government will soon open the borders for commercial activities.
Whingan, representing Badagry constituency, spoke recently during a stakeholders and youth engagement organised by his office.
The engagement was themed, ‘Charting a Prosperous Future for Badagry: Unlocking Potential, Empowering People, and Accelerating Progress’.
According to the lawmaker, the government is trying to see how they can mop up revenue internally.
“This is a policy that we believe needs to be done and will lead to good,” Whingan said.
“The current administration will soon open borders for commercial activities; I know it is affecting us and our incomes. I know what my constituents are going through.”
Speaking on the lack of electricity supply in some areas, the lawmaker assured that the staff of rural electrification would come to look into it in the next few days.
Also on roadblocks, Whingan said no development would come to Badagry because of “multiple checkpoints along the Lagos Badagry expressway”.
“I have spoken against multiple checkpoints on the floor of the house,” he said.
“I doubt if we can achieve any development if we have people stopping and discouraging tourists and investors from coming to this corridor.
“You cannot go through the stress of these multiple checkpoints as a tourist and you would want to come back to this place.
“The security agencies need to start looking at using technology to address this. A single drone can secure and monitor this axis.”
On August 19, 2019, the federal government ordered the closure of the country’s land borders over the illegal importation of drugs, arms, and agricultural products into Nigeria from neighbouring West African countries.
In December 2020, former president Muhammadu Buhari ordered the reopening of four land borders.
Months after the reopening, the ex-president expressed concern that the closure of the borders had failed to stop arms smuggling into Nigeria.
On July 11, 2023, Wale Adeniyi, comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), said not all borders in the country have been reopened.
Adeniyi said six land borders had been opened, adding that a review was ongoing to assess the objectives of the closure.
In April, the comptroller-general said the country was making progress with consultations on the reopening of the borders with Niger Republic and Benin Republic.
The reopening of the borders is expected to go a long way in promoting trade and reducing the prices of goods.
This integration, according to him, supports the Central Bank of Nigeria’s revised foreign exchange manual of 2018, which mandates the NSC to confirm the reasonableness of such fees as a prerequisite for foreign exchange approvals.