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Many people in Nigeria, most especially the farmers, seem to be in sync with the border closure policy. The only people who seem to completely disagree with this are the illegal border traders. But the policy still stirs up mixed reactions.
The entire country has shown that they want those who smuggle and carry out illegal trading to be stopped. Most importantly, they understand the value of stopping the importation of agricultural products. So citizens manned up to leverage the opportunity this brought.
Who wins and who loses?
In a matter of months, many youths now boast of making a legitimately reasonable amount of money from poultry and from cultivating rice. Car dealers have also have seen tremendous benefits from this as they might not have to deal with illegal car smugglers in a while.
While farmers and car dealers in Nigeria saw huge gains in the last months, others have suffered negative consequences of the border closure. The financial stance of all traders who depend on products not made in the country is disrupted by this policy. Certain businesses, including the textile and the market for fairly used items like clothes, shoes, and phones have suffered huge losses. Tire dealers also have nothing to celebrate as their trade has suffered ever since. Many argue that the policy needs some sort of scrutiny to accommodate these groups.
There’s naturally been a lot of mixed feelings about the new policy. Time will tell if the government knows what is right for the country as a whole in the long run.
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