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?

This is a theoretical statement that is not practicable. We will never have enough sustainable alternative as long as smuggling persists. Tiny Benin republic is the second largest importer of RIce in the world, much of that is planned to be exported via smuggling to Nigeria.

Many ppl esp d illiterate and semi- literate segment don't seem to know d impact of smuggling

ORIENTATION101:
Leeches .these idiots are even asking for petrol we pay biliions naira to subsidize monthly.
Buhari is not asking for too much , control smuggling ,and dumping of fake substandard goods to Nigeria and the border will be open for business.
Benin and Niger republic importers pay billions of dollars annually to their respective government on Rice only. 90% of the imported rice re free smuggled in to Nigeria without tax.

We can't continue to be Big Brother when we have our own problems too.
Economic relationship show be scratch my back ,I scratch yours.what re u bringing to the table for Nigeria to benefit from .

Cos our duty is high if not same people will import directly from abroad. They do so cos it comes In at a cheaper rate.

Buhari the Trump of Daura


We opened verified WeChat and Alipay Wallet

docadams:
The breaking point hasn't arrived yet. The farmers have unfortunately become collateral damage in this David vs Goliath fight. Nigeria should tighten the screw further till the governments of Niger & Benin republics come to their senses and choose between providing safe havens for smugglers/economic saboteurs or looking inwards and encourage its indigenous economic activities that will yield products not subject to ban.
It is not easy to be the 6th largest importer of rice in the world. Question is to whose advantage/disadvantage.

What is wrong in being the 6th largest or even the largest importer of rice in the world? Nothing if the situation calls for it.

Benin and Niger aren't the biggest losers from this border closure. It is Nigeria.

Nigeria does not have a problem with growing rice. Nigeria can even produce enough rice to feed the whole of Africa. Nigeria does not have a production problem.

However, the country has an economic problem with rice production. Nigeria lacks comparative advantage in rice production. We can't produce it cheaply like Thailand, Vietnam and India, the only 3 countries that have comparative advantage in rice production, the 2nd largest consumed grain in the world. The first is wheat. Nigeria therefore will be a net importer of the stuff.

The only way Nigeria can be self sufficient s by a ban. Assuming the imported stuff is 11,000 and the locally imported one is 17,000, a ban makes the imported one unavailable and people have no option but to purchase the locally produced one for 17,000. The question I want to ask you is how does paying 17,000 for something that was previously 11,000 actually help the average Nigerian? Maybe there may be some poor housewives out there who don't mind paying 17,000 for something that was formerly 11,000 but majority will frown at it!

Countries do best when they focus resources on areas they have comparative advantage. The British tried to encourage local farmers to produce rice but they were disinterested. They preferred cocoa, palm oil, rubber and so forth and that was what the country was re-known for. Palm oil was Nigeria's rice while rice was Thailand's palm oil. Nigerians still call this the golden era.

Do you know Thailand exports $1.8b worth of farmed shrimps yearly? Whay can't Nigeria export $2b worth of farmed snails for instance or $500m worth of grasscutters? It is estimated that sheabutter if well harnessed can bring in as much as $2b yearly as exports.

Imports are not the problem. They are even good for you. America found out that for every 1 cent reduction in import duty, it earned 3 cents in taxes in the wider economy. If import duties are low and trade is booming, does the money not trickle down? Don't you see people making money? High import duty achieves the opposite

[quote author=grandstar post=82693242]

What is wrong in being the 6th largest or even the largest importer of rice in the world? Nothing if the situation calls for it.

Benin and Niger aren't the biggest losers from this border closure. It is Nigeria.

Nigeria does not have a problem with growing rice. Nigeria can even produce enough rice to feed the whole of Africa. Nigeria does not have a production problem.

However, the country has an economic problem with rice production. Nigeria lacks comparative advantage in rice production. We can't produce it cheaply like Thailand, Vietnam and India, the only 3 countries that have comparative advantage in rice production, the 2nd largest consumed grain in the world. The first is wheat. Nigeria therefore will be a net importer of the stuff.

The only way Nigeria can be self sufficient s by a ban. Assumimg the imported stuff is 11,000 and the locally imported one is 17,000, a ban makes the imported one available and people have no option but to purchase the locally produced one for 17,000. The question I[/quoted]



Ur battery go off?

dumo1:

I swear oga you sabi wella. When you get to Nigeria pot hole will remind you that you have arrived Nigeria and the hate will just flood in. Anyway you can't compare small Togo and Benin with Nigeria. Lagos alone is bigger than these countries.

Then what happened to countries like Russia, U.S., China etc Abeg we have no reason at all

[quote author=Truthbites post=82693283][/quote]

Check again. Or check all my posts. I clicked submit by mistake

Wat's d essence of ECOWAS no nid jarey in fact d Northernals are d ones who gat nothing to offer for d growth of dis country and yet draw d economy backward. Wen it comes to entertainment north is zero, business infrastructure zero. War- genius. They are good in taking advantages of the safety of the citizens. By d power invested in me I hereby cause all d first born of the northernals like d days of pharaoh. All d caw shall die. If u wit me say Amen.

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.

Niger Republic is in the North

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.

See ur brain. Which one is southern and northern borders now Smd

9ja tins 9 different pass. From sermel boarder to agbara d road na casted, no light but from sermel to Benin na steady light with good road. Buhari your brain is getting low resign abeg. For your mind u smart, u dy form hard man unknown to u U dy bel bel dy craz.

ORIENTATION101:
Leeches .these idiots are even asking for petrol we pay biliions naira to subsidize monthly.
Buhari is not asking for too much , control smuggling ,and dumping of fake substandard goods to Nigeria and the border will be open for business.
Benin and Niger republic importers pay billions of dollars annually to their respective government on Rice only. 90% of the imported rice re free smuggled in to Nigeria without tax.

We can't continue to be Big Brother when we have our own problems too.
Economic relationship show be scratch my back ,I scratch yours.what re u bringing to the table for Nigeria to benefit from .

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.

Buhari should know clearly that it is not only smugglers that use the borders....there are students and commuters passing through that route even to other could tries like Togo, Ghana etc. Now, if you are to cross the border by the few bike men who can take one across, you pay N5000 instead of N1000. Before now, you can't even bring in a derica of rice without it being seized and some have lost their lives via suicides because of these seizures.....Our custom officers should be held more accountable and these customer officers have been having a jamboree with auction of rice to themselves and the public before now, and fines should be given to those who bring in contraband goods.....some people don't even know the contraband goods, government should publish them and state it clearly unless they mean all goods coming in or leaving Nigeria are all contraband remember, our farmers too in Ogun State that move their produce across to sell. So far, companies like ABC and Cross Country buses etc have been hit with this move.....there should be others ways of achieving the reduction of smuggling at our borders without killing other businesses or stopping commuters and students from moving freely and at affordable prices. Nigeria is still part of ECOWAS, I guess?

Don't mind those yeye Benin people,do you know they prefer to buy Cement from China and deliberately band Dangote from selling Cement to them.Despite Nigeria generosity they chose to insult us,worst still they steal our petrol which they export by sea,import parboiled Rice,Turkey,Cars and Cows to sell in Nigeria they should go and sell their rice ,pineapples to France and China.Our roforofo fight just begin...Abeg make I do my morning devotion .

Problem dey, even to travel out or come in as a citizen is hard, even if u don't have any goods on u, they will lock u up or u pay huge amount of money, so if u no get money for flights u can't cross the border

Nigerians authority lack business strategy. They should learn from China government. In China the government are the back bone of business economy either original or whatever d government don't disturb. Nigeria government doesn't investment with the country purse rather they just keep stealing from it. Secondly the government lack good business orientated team. For this country to grow make electricity standby. Good road, reduce tax rate. Welcome foreign investors especially cars companies tell them they must bring their assembled company to d country order wise u band their product from entry d country. If they complied u have created an employment for the citizens. They are different way to create job opportunity for the citizens. Let each states has their own resource control, make NDA stationed in every state and make it very easy for citizen to apply. They're a lot of Nigerian youth who wanna give their life for d country but d northernals heads makes it complicated. Open boarders. All this old leaders brain are weak. Mr President my nation citizens are not lazy except u with a lazy brain. God knows wat kinda job your kids do but if their bank account is been check only god knows d billions in there so tell me how come they get all dat? U d corruption Mr president. I hate u from d button of my heart.

grandstar:


What is wrong in being the 6th largest or even the largest importer of rice in the world? Nothing if the situation calls for it.

Benin and Niger aren't the biggest losers from this border closure. It is Nigeria.

Nigeria does not have a problem with growing rice. Nigeria can even produce enough rice to feed the whole of Africa. Nigeria does not have a production problem.

However, the country has an economic problem with rice production. Nigeria lacks comparative advantage in rice production. We can't produce it cheaply like Thailand, Vietnam and India, the only 3 countries that have comparative advantage in rice production, the 2nd largest consumed grain in the world. The first is wheat. Nigeria therefore will be a net importer of the stuff.

The only way Nigeria can be self sufficient s by a ban. Assuming the imported stuff is 11,000 and the locally imported one is 17,000, a ban makes the imported one unavailable and people have no option but to purchase the locally produced one for 17,000. The question I want to ask you is how does paying 17,000 for something that was previously 11,000 actually help the average Nigerian? Maybe there may be some poor housewives out there who don't mind paying 17,000 for something that was formerly 11,000 but majority will frown at it!

Countries do best when they focus resources on areas they have comparative advantage. The British tried to encourage local farmers to produce rice but they were disinterested. They preferred cocoa, palm oil, rubber and so forth and that was what the country was re-known for. Palm oil was Nigeria's rice while rice was Thailand's palm oil. Nigerians still call this the golden era.

Do you know Thailand exports $1.8b worth of farmed shrimps yearly? Whay can't Nigeria export $2b worth of farmed snails for instance or $500m worth of grasscutters? It is estimated that sheabutter if well harnessed can bring in as much as $2b yearly as exports.

Imports are not the problem. They are even good for you. America found out that for every 1 cent reduction in import duty, it earned 3 cents in taxes in the wider economy. If import duties are low and trade is booming, does the money not trickle down? Don't you see people making money? High import duty achieves the opposite

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.

Dee60:
BENIXIT or NAIJAXIT or what do we call this one?

Tomato is not the problem. if you want we will give you some tradermoni.

The problem is oyel - Too many billionaires who cannot manufacture ordinary pin or toothpick will lift oyel, collect subsidy and just move it accross the border where they will rake 200% profit. Haba...

The same people will now be flaunting their rolls royce as if they did anything good to make the money..Haba

oyel and raisi are the problems bro.

Stop blaming local businessmen. Nigerians would be big time into manufacturing if the environment wass conducive.

Lending rates is a business killing 25% or more per year. This is a big disadvantage to manufacturers and that is why many prefer to use it to trade which can bring in enough profits to pay back the loan.

The assets of many Nigerian companies have been seized by AMCON and many of these were run. UACN has lost Victory Park Estate in Lekki to AMCON for instance.

You can know Nigerians like manufacturing if you take a look at bottled water or pure water manufacturing. Once Nigerians know something is lucrative, they'll dive into it.

Onitsha, Nnewi and Aba should be manufacturing centers of excellence and by now should be hubs for shoes, motor spare parts and other goods but have not achieved that because of the hostile operating environment here

Enemyofpeace:
Everybody no like Buhari

I like Buhari

Aside getting money from the citizens of Nigerian by your dogs(EFCC) which other areas have u touched to improve the nation economy? No wonder Bill Gate said your administration is d dumbest admin so far. Even in Government primary to secondary schools were by education supposed to be free is not free any more. Afa make we just sell this country give Facebook guy perhaps d money wen Buhari dy borrow from China nor reach half of watin Mark(fb) get so just imagine say na Mark be our President every stew b dat. Make we know say dis country yeye, minister of technology say na now we 1 dy manufactured pencil can u imagine d nonsense. Small pikin for China dy do robot. We gat a long way to go. My advice 4 d old guy don't scare investors and have a good business team. Na we present Dubai take b like wat it is now so make we grow abeg#Area

docadams:
The breaking point hasn't arrived yet. The farmers have unfortunately become collateral damage in this David vs Goliath fight. Nigeria should tighten the screw further till the governments of Niger & Benin republics come to their senses and choose between ........

Fulani herdsmen are preventing Nigerian farmers from Farming and the FG is now preventing alternative source of food. This is akin to the food blockade during the civil war. It is still early days for the effects of this policy to be felt. 180milion Nigerians will eat o. As if we are doing Benin Republic a favour by letting them sell us food we will eat to stay alive.

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.

Perhaps you need to recognise that this is about the best decision this man has ever taken as a civilian president. Now, the FGN has been subsidising petroleum but the unscrupulous businessmen will take such product across the boarder to sell at a more expensive rate for profit why people on East and North can't get products to buy at the controlled price.
You talk about importation of rice our Benin Republic neighbour is about the highest importer of rice in the word , which they dumped on Nigeria without remorse, the implication is that our home grown rice producers can't sell theirs at profit after obtaining loan because there are cheaper rice from Cotonou? Such act is nothing but ECONOMIC WAR!.

Now imagine them saying Buhari want to kill them when indeed their government and people are killing us?.They deliberately refuse to police their boarder to keep us dependent on their rice forgetting that if we are self sufficient, we can supply them cheaper rice and their country supply us home grown products where they have comparative advantage. Economic war is a serious crime and must be confronted.

It is on record that OBJ also closed the boarder, Benin Republic promised to police her boarder but here we are 15years after nothing has been achieved. Buhari should just give them and their Nigerian collaborators Dasuki's treatment. Look at Niger and tell me how helpful has she being in our fight against Boko Haram. Should we continue to deceive ourselves?Go to those African countries and see how much respect they accord Nigeria , perhaps just a little better than South Africa? Do you think if they are the countries with Nigeria Economic advantage, they will do half of what Nigeria is doing for them for us? BUHARI BE WISE DON'T GIVE UP UNTILL YOU WIN THIS BATTLE.

sweetrace:


I like Buhari

Na now I know say d person wen dy worry u 4 your village your picture dey e hand na fan e dy take kan do so to deliver u go hard because d guy hold your picture for e hand take dy blow himself

This country sef & our own local rice & beans are ever on a high side now.

Infact imported Aroso rice one derica na #330 & above

So naive dey supply electricity that we dont have to these ungrateful idiots`? please baba, tighten the screw there and in Niger and Chad too. South Africa should be the next, Nationalize MTN and bankrupt that their PIC so that their eye go open...

Wickedtruths:


You are daft and bereft of knowledge. You are a sepulchre of idiocy, a reservoir of lunacy and you possess incurable folly.

Stop typing nonsense and go seek help for your inherited stupidity.

Fadalawd

.

romenna:
Benin and Niger are not Nigerian states or an extension of Nigeria.
You people are on your own as a sovereign nation.
Blame your irresponsible govt for trying to destroy our economy.
Buhari pls proceed to cut off electricity supply to these parasites too, we need to be self sufficient before doing give-away.
Enough is enough

Do you k now that these 2 countries put together do not account for up to 5% of Nigeria's GDP? To blame them for the sorry state of things is simply sad and laughable. Shouldn't the country hide its face. They are the ones even to be terrified of our goods flooding their markets.

It is as simple as blaming Nigerians for the lack of jobs for South Africans in South Africa. The real causes are the rigid labor laws and the poor economic growths rates in that country.

Why are goods being smuggled into Nigeria from these countries/ Because of Nigeria's addiction to protectionism to spur production rather than much sounder economic policies. If the import duties were low, there would be no smuggling.

Protectionism has failed to industrialize the country. Manufacturing only accounts for 10% of GDP. Ghana with a much more open economy than Nigeria is 24%. Ghana shows the country does not need to ban this and that to industrialize.

Countires do best when they focus resources on areas they have comparative advantage. It is like sowing seed on good soil. You blow only where you're good at. You don't blow where you suck at. It likes sowing seed on rocky ground. Nigeria through import bans is sowing seed on rocky ground.

Nigeria has no comparative advantage in rice production and this is the economic reason why the country imports rice in the first place. The problem has never been about production but economics. Imported rice will probably cost about 11,000 without tariffs but local rice is 17,000. To get people to eat local rice, the government bans the stuff and people are forced to eat the local for 17,000.

The question is how does paying 17k help Nigerians? The primary cause of hunger isn't a lack of food: it is actually a lack of money. The British tried to encourage local farmers to grow rice but the weren't interested. They preferred cocoa, palm oil, rubber and other products. Nigeria was a world leader in some of them. That is the power of comparative advantage. That is still referred to as a golden age.

Germany exports over $1.5 trillion worth of goods yearly, that is thrice Nigeria's GDP . The population of Germany is less than half of Nigeria's. Exports of manufactured goods by the way is one of the reasons manufacturing accounts for 24% of Ghana's GDP!

The massive smuggling is simply economics or the market informing you that your policy makes no sense.

Nigeria is simply a shameless workman blaming his tools.

Fix Nigeria's borders, and people won't be patronizing foreign borders.

When goods are sent to a Nigerian border, the headache is too much in the clearing stage.
I've heard that it takes longer to clear goods from Nigerian port than it takes to transport it from its origin.
At Benin Republic however, clearing goods from the ports is almost like visiting the post office to collect your parcel.

Buhari has the power to clean up Nigeria. Why doesn't he do it?