The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, says Federal Government\u2019s closure of the Nigerian border does not in any way breach the free trade agreement in the West African sub-region.<\/p>\n
The minister said on Sunday in Abuja that the measure was meant to protect the country and its citizens from the nefarious activities which take place at the borders.<\/p>\n
\u201cFree trade does not mean Nigeria has to be a dumping ground for everything imported by others. These products are not even from all these countries involved. So, why should they be feasting on us?<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria controls 60 to 70 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the West African sub-region.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, Nigeria\u2019s economy still remains a buffer zone for the West African sub-region.<\/p>\n
\u201cBesides, most of the people that come into this country and melt into the population from the West African sub-region come in because this country is accommodating them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis happens to the extent that some of these people when they migrate into this country, you do not even know that they are immigrants.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake, for example, people from the Niger Republic when they come into Kano State, which will differentiate them from the people from Kano, or those from the Benin Republic who come into Oyo State or Osun. They look like us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis situation creates a problem, and the border closure is a measure that has gone a long way in solving the problem,\u2019\u2019 Nanono told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).<\/p>\n
The minister disclosed that the Federal Government was holding talks with the countries concerned to ensure that they kept to the terms of the free trade agreement.<\/p>\n
He said the border closure was not meant to hurt anybody.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a decision taken after careful deliberation and series of attempts by the government to get the neighbouring countries to check the illegal activities at the borders.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Nanono pointed out that a lot of activities were going on at the borders which were not in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria became a dumping ground for all kinds of imports, especially rice, which used to come from these neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unfortunate thing about it is that most of the rice being imported are not healthy and 100 per cent of these rice were not produced in these countries. They were produced elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what I gathered, some of the countries were even given some forms of assistance to curb these imports, but they refused to change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey went ahead, with their countries becoming routes to import rice and other things into this country.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo country in the world can tolerate what we have tolerated over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis (Nigeria) is a country that can produce rice, not only to feed itself but also to export to other countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven before the closure of the border, when the government changed policy from continuous importation of rice to restriction, the Nigerian farmers have shown that they can produce rice to feed this nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The minister said one of the major impacts of the closure of border was that Nigerians have begun to consume local rice and other locally-produced commodities.<\/p>\n
\u201cl am pleased to note that the consumption of local rice has now gone beyond our imagination.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the Southern part of this country, people do not eat foreign rice anymore. In Ebonyi and Bayelsa, you can hardly see somebody selling foreign rice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey now eat Abakaliki rice and they are happy about it. It is fresh, nutritious and healthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, you can perceive the local rice\u2019s good aroma in the mill, as opposed to the one being imported into the country which does not even add value to our health and which is not even nutritious. So, why should we even bother ourselves about this?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have reached a level where in the next two years we will start exporting rice, based on what I saw when I visited the cluster of rice millers at Kura in Kano State, which is about a one-kilometre stretch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nanono also said the Federal Government had begun examining all issues surrounding all other commodities, apart from rice, being imported into the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny commodity Nigeria has the potential of producing or we are currently producing will be banned from being imported.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is to preserve the country\u2019s foreign exchange and ensure national development.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
He urged Nigerians to take advantage of the border closure to invest in any of the agricultural value chains, pointing out that opportunities for investment had been created.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, says Federal Government\u2019s closure of the Nigerian border does not in any way breach the free trade agreement in the West African sub-region. The minister said on Sunday in Abuja that the measure was meant to protect the country and its citizens from the nefarious activities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":12872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[773,1119,488],"class_list":["post-18927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-bayelsa","tag-closure-of-borders","tag-oyo-state"],"yoast_head":"\n