By Iroegbu Okey
There has been a
well orchestrated plan to frustrate the well packaged trade facilitation
planned by ECOWAS founding fathers along the West coast corridors. This came to
limelight recently when the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority
(NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi while parleying with some Business Reporters said
that “those who are importing through Cotonou are simply smuggling. It is
ridiculous. People are complaining that this port is congested which means
there is a lot of business. And at the same time, there are other factors that
work against bringing in goods through the country.
“The economy itself encourages smuggling. People smuggle because of
some of the economic policies. Some people say that the port is expensive but
compare it with other places in the world. People do not even know how much it
costs to import. But people are just peddling rumours that it is cheaper to
import through Cotonou ports.
“But it is actually because it is cheaper to smuggle goods through the
Cotonou ports as they dodge the fee they are supposed to pay. So the issue is
not necessarily what people think. Our port is relatively competitive and if
you ask the terminal operators, a lot of people are making money; otherwise
there would not be so many applications for people wanting to set up the
seaports in Nigeria. So it is not because the other ports are cheaper, but
smuggling is going on but I think with the seriousness of Customs now, all that
will change very soon.”
Apart from this parley which came immediately
after the meeting of the Managing Director with the Customs Area Controller of
Seme Border Area Command, Comptr. Dimka, there are many other derogatory
headlines against the area in print and on-line media. Readers cannot deny
coming across such headlines like; “Abdullahi: Nigerian ports are very
competitive, only smugglers import through Cotonou”, “NPA Boss: smugglers import mostly from Cotonou”, “Rice smugglers
invade Cotonou port”, “Rice smuggling boom as Nigerian importers troop to
Cotonou port”, “How organized smuggling thrives at Seme Border”, “How
government loses billions to car smuggling”. The general public reads these
write-ups and accepts them hook, line and sinkers.
Who among these writers have taken a
serious critical study on the area to confirm most of these allegations? In a
commuter bus recently at a Customs checkpoint, some angry passengers who were
being delayed by Customs Officers for carrying less than a bag of rice voiced
out angrily to the officers that they overlook the lorry loads of contraband
goods that ply the road only to point their guns on a commuter bus carrying a
mere half bag of rice. It was a clear indication that apart from the insiders
and stakeholders, no other person knows the business of trade facilitation
along this ECOWAS corridor.
OPERATIONS OF CAR IMPORT THROUGH YHE BORDER
Using
that same platform the internet, the operations of car importation into Nigeria
through the land borders are not fraud. Cotonou like Antwerp in Belgium is a
free port and destination for a lot of vehicles imported for sales to many West
African countries. Importation of vehicles to Nigeria through Cotonou is not
all about smuggling. Going through a write-up by David Ovie on Nairaland forum,
the long misconception about smuggling through the border is well cleared. He
gave a detailed account on ‘the hidden secret’ on why cars and vehicles are
cheaper at Cotonou, Benin Republic. On this same issue stakeholders view the
advantages of car importation through Cotonou far ahead of Nigeria. According
to a source “the survival of the Benin
Republic car business depends on the continuing inefficiency of the Nigerian
seaports. While car import is expected to expand in the future, there are
concerns that the delays at the ports are enough reasons for people to consider
bringing more cars through the land routes. Dealers said more cars are imported
legally and illegally through the land borders than through the seaports. Most
Nigerians patronise the Cotonou ports because of its efficiency, lower charges
and its allowance for all ages of cars”.
For anybody who wants to castigate a
legitimate operation at the borders should look into the laws establishing such
operations. Before 1992, skeletal maritime and customs operations were taking
place at Seme Border as a means of checkmating the growing trend in smuggling
at the area and a means of decongesting the Nigerian seaports. This worked like
a magic when the area was upgraded to a customs revenue collection centre in
February 1992. Since then the area has produced huge revenue to the federal
government coffers and also produced the best officers among the security
operatives. The unanswered question about the existence of Seme border still
remains, is revenue generation at the border illegal?
It was on this same misconception that the issue of importation of rice
through the land borders was ban after a successful operation at the close of
2015. As an insider, the lawful importation of rice through Seme and other land
borders reduced the seasonal rush to large scale smuggling of the same product
during previous periods. It should be realized that high tariff on rice and the
demand associated with the end of the year have prompted a boom in smuggling of
the essential commodity. Unfortunately the National Assembly was coerced into
outlawing this operation for flimsy reasons. The National Assembly should
endeavour to carry out an investigation to confirm the numerous allegation on
rice through the land borders.
One last question that should be pre-eminent in the mind of every
Nigerian is why is importation through the neighbouring Benin Republic cheaper
than in Nigeria? When are we going to start reaping the surplus from the over
preached agricultural emancipation? As long as the nation remains deceitful on
economic policies, these policies will remain elusive.
