Bsmartt:
I hope the Government are working on a sustainable solution to smuggling in the borders. This is a collective responsibilities of the countries involved.

Increase the excise duties of rice, frozen poultry products and vegetable oil. Boom!!! The importers of such smuggled items will have a rethink and seek other legitimate channel ASAP.

Dosent work like that bro, it has been proven that is not working take alcohol and cigarette as examples.

Good job

chinchum:
We wont be the biggest looser due to closure. Nigeria is spending roughly 1 thrillion naira annually to subsidise petroleum products, a lot of that subsidised product goes to the neighbouring countries. As of today the price of 1 lite of fuel has increased to over 300naira in Benin republic.
In less than 2 years, we most likely will achieve self sustainability in refining petrolum products courtesy of of Dangote refinery, we can choose to remove subsidy on imported petroleum product.

The government has also placed a ban on access to foreign exchange on Rice importers last month, this is all in a bid to discourage importation and encourage local production and processing. There is also a tendency for the price of locally produced rice to drop as supply increases, as competition will be within local producers and processors. The local rice producers will obviously be out muscled and frustated out without govt. intervention.

There are a million and one products you excel in, why go pour money into something you suck at? The only way the country can ever produce rice is with a tariff in place. Take away the tariff and production collapses showing that it was built on a house on mud in the first place like we don't know.

Put energy into your strengths not weaknesses. Nigerians are being deprived of one of the benefits of international trade by these protectionist policies which are cheap goods.

Nigeria should not have a subsidy on fuel in the first place. If the price of fuel was deregulated, smuggling of it to Benin or anywhere in the world would benefit the country. The subsidy is the problem and not the smuggling.

grandstar:


Protectionism is killing the country. As The Economist rightly pointed out, protectionism has failed to industrialize the country. It is amateurish and a very blunt tool.

Imports are actually good for you. Protectionism protects zombies and not the competitive and vibrant. It forces locals to pay higher prices for goods than otherwise and it is regressive and it benefits producers (who can make risk free profits) at the disadvantage of the consumer. Dangote's cement was once so expensive that if he sold a bag for half the price, he would still have made a post tax profit! I won't be surprised if Nigerian cement is one of the most expensive in the world.

Nigeria should be focusing on exports. Britain, a country of about 65m people exports about $700b worth of goods and services yearly. That is more than Nigeria's GDP. If Nigeria's non-oil export just increased $30b, the local factories will be working non-stop. The smart money is in exports.

sir , there is no country which does not practice one form of protectionsim or the other . The Economist is yarning dust. even the US, the largest economy in the world has implemented tarriffs and othe measures, renegotiated trade deals and reformed its tax laws to remain competititve and not be taken advantage of in global trade. While I agree with you that the smart money is in exports, allowing your country to be dumping ground for all sorts of products will only spell disaster for the local producers. we already have a small industrial base. How then do you propose to help the local industry grow , considering the fact that we cant afford to subsidise those industries , seeing what we already lose to subsidising petrol prices (which to me is really dumb)? We are being ripped off by neighboring countries like crazy and you are saying that should persist? those countries depend on trade with Nigeria and they also owe us a duty of care to not make their jusridictions abodes of smuggling which in turn hurt our local industries which we need to desperately grow if we ever hope to wean ourselves off oil. i think Buhari has done well in this regard, however not only closing these borders would solve the issue. It needs to be matched with deliberate policymaking to see how the local industries can be made to compete favorably. Nigeria can hardly afford to take care of its teeming youth . it should not be a sugar daddy to other countries. This is not even free trade

These countries need to get creative about solving their own issues. How can they still be so heavily dependent on other countries for survival?

KingMEXX:
What are you saying? Both Benin and Niger were closed

Don't mind him he doesn't know what he's saying , his hatred for Buhari is blinding his sense of reasoning

blueghost:
Closing border and signing the trade pact
Like seriously why the contradictions

I doubt you comprehend the write up

grandstar:


There are a million and one products you excel in, why go pour money into something you suck at? The only way the country can ever produce rice is with a tariff in place. Take away the tariff and production collapses showing that it was built on a house on mud in the first place like we don't know.

Put energy into your strengths not weaknesses. Nigerians are being deprived of one of the benefits of international trade by these protectionist policies which are cheap goods.

Nigeria should not have a subsidy on fuel in the first place. If the price of fuel was deregulated, smuggling of it to Benin or anywhere in the world would benefit the country. The subsidy is the problem and not the smuggling.

On what basis are you saying we are not good at farming Rice. Rice is about the most consumed food commodity in Nigeria, and you feel we suck at it and should continue importing with thrillions of Naira annually.

Nigeria should have no business importing refined petroleum products as one of the largest producers of oil in the world, but the irony is systemic decay and failure of successive administrations has turned us to one of the largest importers of refined petroleum products. I believe we can achieve an end to importation of refined products by 2021 as Dangote refinery comes on stream. Government can decide to take off subsidy. I agree Subsidy should go, and i recommend Govt. should wait till we can refine enough for local consumption before implementing that, this is mainly because the Dangote refinery, the largest in africa is designed to turn Nigeria to an exporter of Petroleum product.

grandstar:


Protectionism is killing the country. As The Economist rightly pointed out, protectionism has failed to industrialize the country. It is amateurish and a very blunt tool.

Imports are actually good for you. Protectionism protects zombies and not the competitive and vibrant. It forces locals to pay higher prices for goods than otherwise and it is regressive and it benefits producers (who can make risk free profits) at the disadvantage of the consumer. Dangote's cement was once so expensive that if he sold a bag for half the price, he would still have made a post tax profit! I won't be surprised if Nigerian cement is one of the most expensive in the world.

Nigeria should be focusing on exports. Britain, a country of about 65m people exports about $700b worth of goods and services yearly. That is more than Nigeria's GDP. If Nigeria's non-oil export just increased $30b, the local factories will be working non-stop. The smart money is in exports.

Are you saying sir that we should continue to subsidise criminal activities ? this is not the definition of free trade. this is Nigeria being taken for a sucker and sugar daddy who is just there to be ripped off. The Economist has its own agenda. There is not one country in the world which does not implement some level of protectionism. Even the US , worried about the impact of globalisation and free trade on its local economy, has implemented tarriffs, renegotiated trade deals like NAFTA whcih is deemed unfair and has been waging a high level trade war with China. What Nigeria is addressing is crime here . These other neighbors have allowed their jusridictions to be used as bastions of crime. How can Nigeria subsidise fuel prices (which I consider ridiculous ) and then you have Benin citizens enjoying these privileges?. You might argue that this is a result of our porous borders but i would say the Beninoise arent saying no to that product , are they? We already have a small production base. We need to make sure we can support our own local industries to grow. The border closing is only half the job. There needs to be consistent policymaking that would assist local businesses bridge the gap and make them more competitive. We cannot allow ourselves be the dumping ground for all manners of smuggled products. Let those countries take up their share of the challenge by actually promoting trade and not letting their jurisdictions be used for smuggling

kelvine:
Should we support or not.
Should we applaud our Government or dismiss this move as insensitive ?
Not an expert, will wait here to learn.

Insensitive is when they let their border to be wilfully porous without considering the negative effect it was having on Nigeria's economy.

I think it is a wonderful move by the government as it will spur more local and foreign direct investments in agriculture and other sectors, and subsequently provide more employment opportunities for our citizens.

tiredoflife:


And when he cuts of electricity supply they decide to block the river Niger to build their hydropower dam
Hope u wont come crying
There was a reason we sell some electricity to them
Is so the water would be allowed to flow freely to our dams
Learn to understand things before u talk

You're the one who needs understanding before talking

aribs:


sir , there is no country which does not practice one form of protectionsim or the other . The Economist is yarning dust. even the US, the largest economy in the world has implemented tarriffs and othe measures, renegotiated trade deals and reformed its tax laws to remain competititve and not be taken advantage of in global trade. While I agree with you that the smart money is in exports, allowing your country to be dumping ground for all sorts of products will only spell disaster for the local producers. we already have a small industrial base. How then do you propose to help the local industry grow , considering the fact that we cant afford to subsidise those industries , seeing what we already lose to subsidising petrol prices (which to me is really dumb)? We are being ripped off by neighboring countries like crazy and you are saying that should persist? those countries depend on trade with Nigeria and they also owe us a duty of care to not make their jusridictions abodes of smuggling which in turn hurt our local industries which we need to desperately grow if we ever hope to wean ourselves off oil. i think Buhari has done well in this regard, however not only closing these borders would solve the issue. It needs to be matched with deliberate policymaking to see how the local industries can be made to compete favorably. Nigeria can hardly afford to take care of its teeming youth . it should not be a sugar daddy to other countries. This is not even free trade

Protectionism is counterproductive.

Policies that can help boost manufacturing and agriculture.

1. Bring commercial lending rates down to single digits. That is less than 10%. That will bring a revolution (This will lead to a surge in investments as companies will take out loans and also expand. With continuous expansions, the local market will become to small and they will be forced to start exporting. Also, with credit cost low, local manufacturers can import world beating machines that will make them very competitive not just locally but globally as well.

2. Slash company taxes to between 12-15%. Low corporate taxes encourages large amounts of both local and foreign investment. That is what transformed Ireland with a tax rate of 10%.

3. 0% import duty on raw material and capital goods. (Local manufacturers have been demanding for this for years and it is standard practice in the most progressive of countries.

4. Deregulating electricity prices so as to encourage investment in the energy sector. (This will improve power supply)

5. Ending fuel subsidies to encourage companies to set up refineries. One of the reasons why refineries weren't built was that the subsidy dissuaded investors. Dangote has already said he's selling his fuel at the international price.

The first 2 policies are enough to turn around the manufacturing sector in the country. The 3rd, will simply give it a greater foundation, the 4th can take it to the moon and the fifth can make the country the defacto energy giant of Africa. Nigeria by now should be refining 3m barrels a day for instance.

realstars:
4+4 Buhari's next level of hunger is loading... This time he will make it across the whole west African nations in the next four years, after signing agreement with the neighboring countries. This is just the beginning of the next level things.

you need brain transplant ASAP

https://www.nairaland.com/5443563/suffering-benin-amid-border-closure

Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs

A picture taken on September 19, 2019 shows rotten tomatoes in a field, in Grand-Pop. On 19 August, 2019 Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unilaterally decided, and against all trade and freedom of movement of the treaties of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), to close the borders between Benin and Niger, causing the rotting of Beninese tomatoes.

Dozens of baskets brimming with newly-picked tomatoes gently rot in the sticky heat, becoming the latest casualty in a bout of trade tension between Benin and Nigeria.
On August 19, President Muhammadu Buhari unexpectedly closed Nigeria’s borders to goods trade with Benin and Niger, declaring the time had come to end rampant smuggling from those countries.

In Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour to the west, traders say the impact has been devastating.

“This is a distressing sight,” Agriculture Minister Gaston Dossouhoui said this month, visiting markets in the town of Grand Popo, one of the main agricultural communities of southern Benin.

“It’s very difficult for our producers. It’s a disaster.”

“Financially speaking, Benin’s small producers are underwater they’ve already had to run up millions (of CFA francs) in debt,” said Adjeoda Amoussou, head of Benin’s Chamber of Agriculture.

Buhari defended the closure by saying Benin and Niger – Nigeria’s neighbour to the northeast — had failed to police their borders properly, and chronic smuggling was the result.

“The borders will remain closed until our neighbours control what goes through the borders and comply with the laws,” warned Hameed Ali, comptroller general of the Nigeria Customs Service.

The move immediately caused a shockwave.

Unilateral border closures go against all commercial and freedom of movement treaties signed under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The announcement also cast a shadow over a historic free-trade agreement, signed by 54 out of 55 African countries, that reached a key operational threshold just five weeks earlier.

Nigeria, as well as Benin, had signed onto the pact on the eve of the landmark day — a move hailed as a crucial push towards ending the continent’s trade barriers.

David and Goliath
That smuggling goes on is clear, although it goes in both directions.

Huge quantities of frozen chickens, rice, fabric and cars arrive at the port of Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital, where they are taxed locally before being routed -often illegally to Nigeria.

Benin has few functioning petrol stations, and its fuel is far more expensive than in Nigeria, where it is subsidised by the state. A common sight is smuggled Nigerian petrol, sold by the side of the road in jerrycans.

Beyond contraband, though, trade with Nigeria is crucial for Benin and Niger.

Ranking among the world’s poorest countries, they find themselves as David opposite the Nigerian Goliath — a market of 190 million and Africa’s biggest economy.

‘Fear of God’
In Benin, business people in some parts of the economy are panicking, and unfounded rumours that Nigeria will even go so far as to cut off its electricity supply are spreading in local newspapers.

“Buhari and his country want to put an end to us,” said Barthelemy Agon, a pineapple producer. He like many others have been hard-hit by fruits and vegetables no longer being exported to their big neighbour.

As for taxi and truck drivers, it’s barely worth the effort to hit the road since a litre of imported contraband fuel has risen by about one euro ($1.10) since the frontier was closed.

“We are suffering seriously from this situation without petrol we can’t do anything,” said Aristide Samson Assogba, a motorcycle taxi driver.

Sebastien Deguenonvo in Cotonou’s Casse-Auto district said sales of his low-quality diesel had slumped from at least 30 26-litre (six-gallon) cans per day to just 10.”I beg the Nigerian president to have pity on us,” he said.

But if his stoney reputation is anything to go by, Buhari — an ex-general whose first spell as Nigeria’s leader, in the 1980s, came after a coup — is unlikely to be merciful.

“President Buhari should be a little bit afraid of God,” said Henry Assogba from the National Association of Petrol Sellers. “The big one cannot live without the little one.”
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by Seetto: 4:22pm On Sep 29
Mcreloaded:
A picture taken on September 19, 2019 shows rotten tomatoes in a field, in Grand-Pop. On 19 August, 2019 Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unilaterally decided, and against all trade and freedom of movement of the treaties of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), to close the borders between Benin and Niger, causing the rotting of Beninese tomatoes.

Dozens of baskets brimming with newly-picked tomatoes gently rot in the sticky heat, becoming the latest casualty in a bout of trade tension between Benin and Nigeria.
On August 19, President Muhammadu Buhari unexpectedly closed Nigeria’s borders to goods trade with Benin and Niger, declaring the time had come to end rampant smuggling from those countries.

In Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour to the west, traders say the impact has been devastating.

“This is a distressing sight,” Agriculture Minister Gaston Dossouhoui said this month, visiting markets in the town of Grand Popo, one of the main agricultural communities of southern Benin.

“It’s very difficult for our producers. It’s a disaster.”

“Financially speaking, Benin’s small producers are underwater they’ve already had to run up millions (of CFA francs) in debt,” said Adjeoda Amoussou, head of Benin’s Chamber of Agriculture.

Buhari defended the closure by saying Benin and Niger – Nigeria’s neighbour to the northeast — had failed to police their borders properly, and chronic smuggling was the result.

“The borders will remain closed until our neighbours control what goes through the borders and comply with the laws,” warned Hameed Ali, comptroller general of the Nigeria Customs Service.

The move immediately caused a shockwave.

Unilateral border closures go against all commercial and freedom of movement treaties signed under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The announcement also cast a shadow over a historic free-trade agreement, signed by 54 out of 55 African countries, that reached a key operational threshold just five weeks earlier.

Nigeria, as well as Benin, had signed onto the pact on the eve of the landmark day — a move hailed as a crucial push towards ending the continent’s trade barriers.

David and Goliath
That smuggling goes on is clear, although it goes in both directions.

Huge quantities of frozen chickens, rice, fabric and cars arrive at the port of Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital, where they are taxed locally before being routed -often illegally to Nigeria.

Benin has few functioning petrol stations, and its fuel is far more expensive than in Nigeria, where it is subsidised by the state. A common sight is smuggled Nigerian petrol, sold by the side of the road in jerrycans.

Beyond contraband, though, trade with Nigeria is crucial for Benin and Niger.

Ranking among the world’s poorest countries, they find themselves as David opposite the Nigerian Goliath — a market of 190 million and Africa’s biggest economy.

‘Fear of God’
In Benin, business people in some parts of the economy are panicking, and unfounded rumours that Nigeria will even go so far as to cut off its electricity supply are spreading in local newspapers.

“Buhari and his country want to put an end to us,” said Barthelemy Agon, a pineapple producer. He like many others have been hard-hit by fruits and vegetables no longer being exported to their big neighbour.

As for taxi and truck drivers, it’s barely worth the effort to hit the road since a litre of imported contraband fuel has risen by about one euro ($1.10) since the frontier was closed.

“We are suffering seriously from this situation without petrol we can’t do anything,” said Aristide Samson Assogba, a motorcycle taxi driver.

Sebastien Deguenonvo in Cotonou’s Casse-Auto district said sales of his low-quality diesel had slumped from at least 30 26-litre (six-gallon) cans per day to just 10.”I beg the Nigerian president to have pity on us,” he said.

But if his stoney reputation is anything to go by, Buhari — an ex-general whose first spell as Nigeria’s leader, in the 1980s, came after a coup — is unlikely to be merciful.

“President Buhari should be a little bit afraid of God,” said Henry Assogba from the National Association of Petrol Sellers. “The big one cannot live without the little one.”
O boy see life, a zoo sneezes and some where some people are catching cold, who God has bless no one can cause, Nigeria really to be serious and get it right...
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by Charleys: 4:23pm On Sep 29
Someone is exporting hardship to other countries.
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by Mcreloaded(m): 4:29pm On Sep 29
Seetto:

O boy see life, a zoo sneezes and some where some people are catching cold, who God has bless no one can cause, Nigeria really to be serious and get it right...
You are very right.
Nigeria can call the shots in Africa if only our leaders do what is right even South Africa will be humbled
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by Atlanticfire: 4:32pm On Sep 29
Instead of unilaterally closing the border, a move which is against several treaties that Nigeria is party to, the government should find a way to sue the countries for dumping of imported goods in Nigeria.

ECOWAS and AU can be made to force all African countries to ban export of imported goods through land borders with steep fines for offenders.
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by olajizz01(m): 4:44pm On Sep 29
Hmmm,we can't say because of one yeye treaties, we should hurt our own economy,


They should comply with Nigeria so that the border can be open as soon as possible
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by Mcreloaded(m): 5:07pm On Sep 29
Atlanticfire:
Instead of unilaterally closing the border, a move which is against several treaties that Nigeria is party to, the government should find a way to sue the countries for dumping of imported goods in Nigeria.

ECOWAS and AU can be made to force all African countries to ban export of imported goods through land borders with steep fines for offenders.
True talk but i want to believe this move and several warnings must have been sent, but if not then these neighbouring countries can also sue Nigeria if proper and legit measure have not been taken to stop exporting of imported goods to Nigeria.
Lets hope something good will come out of this exercise
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by Tomiwa69: 5:08pm On Sep 29
sufferness is produced in Nigeria.the citizens av more than enough
He don dey export sufferness.
Nigeria will over take anyone as the largest exporter of sufferness.
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by efighter: 5:16pm On Sep 29
Charleys:
Someone is exporting hardship to other countries.

One lazy youth here just lost his sense of reasoning.
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by efighter: 5:16pm On Sep 29
Can you imagine? Nigeria has been illegally subsidising petroleum products for its ungrateful neighbours through the activities of saboteur smugglers.

Can you also imagine Nigeria's useless neighbours begging us to allow them continue smuggling contrabands to Nigeria. They must be mad.

Over these years, I have been surprised that the no nonsense Ahmeed Alli has allowed smuggling to flourish, now I understand, the guy has been doing his research and understudying the situation. Now, he has a full grasp of how things work and has taken action to secure our borders.

Long live Ahmeed Alli, long live Buhari, long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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Re: Suffering Of Benin Amid Border Closure By Goliath, David Begs by efighter: 5:28pm On Sep 29

Wickedtruths:


The border with Niger, is it southern or northern?

You're an idiotic illiterate who is probably a coconut smuggler in Badagry.

Ten months later, on 28 August, when they met in the lounges of a major Tokyo hotel on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), the atmosphere was tense, the smiles forced. Nigeria had recently decided to close its land border with its Beninese neighbour – for at least 28 days. Announced on 20 August, the ruling is also less strictly applied on the borders with Niger and Cameroon. But it has much stronger consequences for the Beninese economy.

It is an open secret that the border closure and general border security in the north is way more lax than it is in the south. Stop pretending like you don't know. Even the current border closure with Niger is only a partial closure.

aribs:


Are you saying sir that we should continue to subsidise criminal activities ? this is not the definition of free trade. this is Nigeria being taken for a sucker and sugar daddy who is just there to be ripped off. The Economist has its own agenda. There is not one country in the world which does not implement some level of protectionism. Even the US , worried about the impact of globalisation and free trade on its local economy, has implemented tarriffs, renegotiated trade deals like NAFTA whcih is deemed unfair and has been waging a high level trade war with China. What Nigeria is addressing is crime here . These other neighbors have allowed their jusridictions to be used as bastions of crime. How can Nigeria subsidise fuel prices (which I consider ridiculous ) and then you have Benin citizens enjoying these privileges?. You might argue that this is a result of our porous borders but i would say the Beninoise arent saying no to that product , are they? We already have a small production base. We need to make sure we can support our own local industries to grow. The border closing is only half the job. There needs to be consistent policymaking that would assist local businesses bridge the gap and make them more competitive. We cannot allow ourselves be the dumping ground for all manners of smuggled products. Let those countries take up their share of the challenge by actually promoting trade and not letting their jurisdictions be used for smuggling

Why are you blaming an undertaker for burying a corpse? There is no way the Benin government would have succeeded in banning the import of subsidized fuel. No way. The product will simply be moved in smaller vehicles undetected. The Nigerian customs are as much to blame for the smuggling are as the Beninese.

Trump was the one that placed those tariffs. American economist did not support it. The one with Mexico was the most idiotic and baseless. Mexico has no protectionist policies against America. America exports $260billion worth of goods there. This will provide at least 6m US jobs and they are some of the best jobs you can find.

Rather gthan consistent policy making, junk bad policies and replace them with good and dynamic ones! Dangote said he would not be where he is today if not for Soludo's bank recapitalisation. That is a dynamic policy.\

Another dynamic policy is low corporate tax like 12% for instance and most importantly, single digit commercial loans. These are transformative policies and not protectionist which is an amateurish attempt to revive local production. It has failed miserably over the past 30 years and it will keep failing.,

wisewordd:
If we don't have sustainable alternative, I don't see the need for the border closure. Meanwhile, people that closed the border are eaten foreign food, buying expensive foreign clothes, children live abroad, using foreign hospital, and the list goes on. Question, who is deceiving who?

I disagree with you. And I am sure that you have heard the term 'no pain, no gain'. If we are to move forward economically as a nation, measures like these needs to be put in place.

You mentioned the upper class. What is the population of those that can afford foreign products and services compared to the rest that cannot? Who will benefit more since the border closure is already seeing a surge in local production of agricultural produce etc?

If we are to chart a different course economically, we need to be ready to roll up our sleeves and do the needful.

Today will always pass, tomorrow will always come.

I'm wondering what our customs officers have been doing there

grandstar:


Protectionism is counterproductive.

Policies that can help boost manufacturing and agriculture.

1. Bring commercial lending rates down to single digits. That is less than 10%. That will bring a revolution (This will lead to a surge in investments as companies will take out loans and also expand. With continuous expansions, the local market will become to small and they will be forced to start exporting. Also, with credit cost low, local manufacturers can import world beating machines that will make them very competitive not just locally but globally as well.

2. Slash company taxes to between 12-15%. Low corporate taxes encourages large amounts of both local and foreign investment. That is what transformed Ireland with a tax rate of 10%.

3. 0% import duty on raw material and capital goods. (Local manufacturers have been demanding for this for years and it is standard practice in the most progressive of countries.

4. Deregulating electricity prices so as to encourage investment in the energy sector. (This will improve power supply)

5. Ending fuel subsidies to encourage companies to set up refineries. One of the reasons why refineries weren't built was that the subsidy dissuaded investors. Dangote has already said he's selling his fuel at the international price.

The first 2 policies are enough to turn around the manufacturing sector in the country. The 3rd, will simply give it a greater foundation, the 4th can take it to the moon and the fifth can make the country the defacto energy giant of Africa. Nigeria by now should be refining 3m barrels a day for instance.

First, this is about crime as i mentioned, not trade . Let those countries address the smuggling first . these are just land borders. again you cannot open your borders to criminals to dump stuff in. the ports are still open for business. secondly, I agree with the fuel subsidies, electricity deregulation and import duties . fuel subsidies are useless. I agree a reduction in corporate taxes may be helpful but not to 12 -15 percent. We currently run a budget deficit which would only grow larger and lead to even more borrowing. What happens when there is an oil price shock in the nearest future? Commercial lending rates are driven by rates which are in turn impacted by inflation so this is not an easy task. a combination of addressing smuggling, boosting local industry through different methods , some of which you have suggested would go a long way in helping Nigerian businesses compete

blueghost:
Closing border and signing the trade pact
Like seriously why the contradictions

Good riddance. God is already punishing them for trooping enmass into Nigeria in 2015 to vote in a more clueless and evil government in human history.
What kind of a family head will stop his wife from going to the market even when there is no little foodstuffs in the house.

Christophorus:
The only good thing Buhari has done in 2019

NigeriaIsDoomed:
aswear down bro

What makes it good? We only love to see people suffer.

Do you know if Nigeria developed her seaports and made the clearing process less rigorous, all those containers that dock at Cotonou would flood Nigeria?

Nigeria brought this upon herself. After banning several items importers now prefer to bring them through a country try that accepts them, pay duties to that government and smuggle it to Nigeria! Why ban the goods in the first place when you refuse to create an enabling environment for such goods to be produced locally?

As a result of reduced volume at our fuccking ports, their revenue declined. In order to improve those figures, the government now decided to increase import duties on certain items like cars. imagine paying 70% of the value of your car as duty alone, coupled with the devaluation of naira, a brand new car that should cost N6m nnow goes for N25m!

This problem did not start today and the people running this company called Nigeria should brace up for a shocker in a few years time. It only gets worse!

greypencils:
That's what stars do. Our population na the giant wey we be.

You have a point. They say never underestimate the power of idíots in large numbers, but a group of 200 million idíots is still a group of 200 million idíots. Their sheer number does not make them geniuses.

worlexy:
Imagine, so the bulk of the subsidized petrol meant to be consumed in Nigeria end up being smuggled into our neighbouring countries.

Abi nah!! People won't notice dat cos they r after d turkey they want to eat

grandstar:


Why are you blaming an undertaker for burying a corpse? There is no way the Benin government would have succeeded in banning the import of subsidized fuel. No way. The product will simply be moved in smaller vehicles undetected. The Nigerian customs are as much to blame for the smuggling are as the Beninese.

Trump was the one that placed those tariffs. American economist did not support it. The one with Mexico was the most idiotic and baseless. Mexico has no protectionist policies against America. America exports $260billion worth of goods there. This will provide at least 6m US jobs and they are some of the best jobs you can find.

Rather gthan consistent policy making, junk bad policies and replace them with good and dynamic ones! Dangote said he would not be where he is today if not for Soludo's bank recapitalisation. That is a dynamic policy.\

Another dynamic policy is low corporate tax like 12% for instance and most importantly, single digit commercial loans. These are transformative policies and not protectionist which is an amateurish attempt to revive local production. It has failed miserably over the past 30 years and it will keep failing.,

it actually depends on which economist you listen to. Some did support Trump's position. Agreed both Nigeria and Benin owed a responsibility for the policing of the borders but that does not mean they should shirk their responsibility either. As i stated also, we run a budget deficit, lowering tax rates is not , in my opinion , something we can afford to do at this moment. single digit lons are a mirage considering the high inflationary environment and other factors. as for the US - Mexico one , i do not agree with those numbers.

gunuvi:
I am not against border closure but it will be very evil for Buhari to close the southern borders and not close the northern borders. Meanwhile our government's should be ashamed for the smuggling activities going on at our borders or what are we paying the border securities agencies for?
I tire for this country.

Buhari won't close the Northern Borders, he will claim to do that but won't close it, Buhari purposely did this because of Christmas season,

food like rice would be heavily smuggled from Chad to Nigeria, people who don't understand it will think that it's truly from Buhari's mind to do good to Nigeria, but in reality he will be diverting illegal market/business to his Fulani brothers in the Sahel.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrWlM_-R5P4

Hausaman:
These are what IMF, world bank, KKK, Freemason, illuminati Zionists, CIA, FBI, CBN and other capitalist mechanism want. The rich should get richer and the poor poorer. Before the slavery and colonialism by the whiteman churches the Benin Republic was part of old Oyo empire, while Niger republic was part of Zaukwato caliphate, for divided & rule is the code. However, a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Exactly! This is what I was trying to point out to Day2logic a few days ago (though without the IMF, KKK part) The early Europeans are experts in drawing borders that are known to brew eternal conflict and the more they keep you fighting amongst yourself, the less likely you are to unite and pose a formidable threat to their government.

Divide and rule. Just like how you chop yam into pieces to make it easy to swallow, they chop the African kingdoms into pieces to make them a walkover when ever they come at us with economically detrimental policies that do not benefit the continent in any way. We will be too divide to challenge them.

realstars:
4+4 Buhari's next level of hunger is loading... This time he will make it across the whole west African nations in the next four years, after signing agreement with the neighboring countries. This is just the beginning of the next level things.

after reading your comment, I can boldly say that__bro you've lost your right to comment on national issue, because it's obvious you have no iota of ideal on how stuff like this works___ you can only comment on bbnaija, bet naija, naira Marley, bobrisky's and other lesser threads (that doesn't require high level of reasoning)

thanks (posting on behalf of a friend)

kingkakaone:
Their government is the problem.
They encourage imports into their country, tax these imports and then smuggle it into Nigeria without us making money from them.
Their government should control how these things are moved around for everyone.

No country can survive with the way they act.

Our government that discouraged imports and refused to create an enabling environment for businesses to grow and produce such goods locally is the problem! This problem did not start today and what is happening now is the next level that would bring Nigeria to its knees.

scholes0:
It is an open secret that the border closure and general border security in the north is way more lax than it is in the south. Stop pretending like you don't know. Even the current border closure with Niger is only a partial closure.

Let me indulge you a bit by clearing you.

That boy said southern borders should not be closed without northern borders being closed. I told him both were closed. Now, you saying the northern border was partially closed is because you didn't understand the basis of the argument.

The intention of closing the borders is because of 3 things. Rice, Poultry and Petrol.

Rice and Poultry - Benin. Prevention of entry
Petrol - Niger. Prevention of exit.

If you need further clarification, be my guest.