The Federal Government has been applauded for closing Nigeria’s borders.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, by Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), the Islamic human
rights organization lauded the Federal Government for taking a
decision capable of protecting Nigeria’s economic interest.
MURIC added, “This decision is long overdue. Nigeria should not
continue to be the economic fall guy of her neighbours. Anyone
familiar with recent happenings in the global community will know that
governments all over the world are taking economic decisions to
protect their citizens. Britain’s Brexit saga and the United State’s
border conflict with Mexico are good instances. The same America is
engaged in cut-throat trade war with China.
“The fact that tiny Benin Republic, Nigeria’s closest neighbour to the
West whose population is just 11.8 million imports 936,522 tons of
rice which its population does not need is astounding. How can Benin
Republic be the sixth largest importer of rice in the world? Is it not
at Nigeria’s expense? Yet it is not Benin Republic alone. Burkina
Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Niger are all milking Nigeria.
“It is also not about rice alone. Our porous borders have been hurting
other products. Petrol is a good example. The Petroleum Products
Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA recently revealed that Nigeria was
using 61 million liters daily before the closure but this has reduced
to 50.22 since Nigeria closed its borders. This implies that daily
supply of petrol for local consumption has drastically reduced by
10,078,000 liters. This reduction is a vehement testimony to the
wisdom in FG’s decision to close Nigeria’s borders.
“It is in this light that MURIC commends FG for its foresight. We
charge Nigerians to unite in their support for the programmes of the
government. We have all seen that President Muhammadu Buhari means
well for the country. He is honest, transparent and pragmatic. His
Spartan way of life despite the fact that he has had so many
opportunities to enrich himself in the past and even now is enough
proof that he has no plan to enrich himself or his friends.
“Before we go on break, we implore Nigerians who are involved one way
or the other in economic sabotage to seek other noble ways of survival
and to sieze one of the several windows of opportunities opened by
this administration for self-employment. We invite opposition figures
and other critics to join hands with FG in strengthening the country’s
economy. We can survive without politics but no nation can survive
without a stable and virile economy.”
