The Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has said the Federal Government will soon reopen the country’s land borders.
The President had in October 2019 ordered the closure of land borders to check smuggling goods and arms into the country after a partial closure of the Seme border in August 2019.
The closure had received mixed reactions with Heads of neighbouring countries like Ghana and Benin Republic appealing to the President to reconsider the closure, but the President maintained that the borders would remain closed until the final report of the committee set up on the matter was considered.
Meanwhile, the Vice President during a webinar organised by The Africa Report disclosed that the federal government is working towards reopening the borders. The webinar was themed ‘Bouncing back: Nigeria’s post-pandemic recovery plan.
Reacting to a question on the continued closure of the land borders despite preparations for the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the vice president said: “We are working with our neighbours to see on what terms we would reopen those borders. At the moment, we are undertaking joint border patrols to control smuggling along the borders and we think it is working and I am sure that soon enough we should have the borders opened.”
“We are committed to the AfCFTA but we are concerned about threats to security and the economy and we had to take certain actions that would satisfy the immediate needs of our country. It (border closure) certainly wasn’t meant to be permanent and we are looking forward to reopening as quickly as possible.”
