Atiku’s Plans To Open Borders
…_Plan will Impoverish Farmers, Enrich Smuggler Friends.
One of the most criticised manifestos of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar is his plans to reopen the Nigerian borders for smuggling activities to resume across the country if elected president, 25th of February.
Atiku has considered this as one of his best strategies to revamp Nigeria’s economy, noting that the reopening of the borders which has been restricted from influx of terrorists and smugglers by the APC administration, would facilitate free flow of human and agricultural resources.
Aside faulting Atiku’s stand on smuggling while speaking in Yobe State based on his background as a retired Senior Officer of the Nigerian Custom, and undoubted strong networks of smuggler cartels at all Nigeria borders, it can also be safe to say it is an attempt to reverse all the efforts made by the PMB administration to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of many staples, especially rice.
At a major campaign event in Yobe state, the candidate canvassed for the reopening of borders, which in Yobe state is a code word for smuggling and consequentially terrorists that smuggle small arms that wrecked havoc in the Boko Haram years in the North East under the PDP government . By that statement, the former vice-president has informed the country’s millions of rice farmers that they will soon lose their jobs when imported rice floods the country, while enriching his smugglers friends.
According to PREMIUM TIMES report, the closure of Nigerian borders has energised rice farmers in the country, as the scarce of imported rice as boosted the demand for locally produced grains. Data available indicate that Nigeria’s rice imports have dropped dramatically by 98.4% to less than 15 metric tones from 6-7 million tonnes at the beginning of the Buhari administration, while Nigeria is now the top producer in Africa.
The fortunes that land borders closure brought to poor Nigerian farmers, the job it has created for rice mill workers and the boost it has given to the nation’s food and agriculture industry are of no interest to Mr Atiku, It seems based on his policy pronouncements. According to a political analyst, Jimoh Jinadu “Atiku is ready to sacrifice the livelihood of all the beneficiaries of this lofty policies to reward his friends smuggling cartels.”
Before reviewing other damage posed by Mr Atiku’s plans to reopen the borders, the bond between him and the Katsina based dreaded smuggler- Dahiru Mangal (Link of Story Mangal’s alleged smuggling activities) is of concern to political observers .
Several occasions the billionaire smuggler’s name has being mentioned or listed as one of the suspected financiers of Atiku’s presidential ambitions, and of course the reopen of Niger Republic and Chad are rewards to Mangals investment. Indeed, he was fingered as a sole sponsor of the PDP Gubernatorial candidate in Katsina that has failed to gain traction and was the main organizer of failed attempts to stone the President- who is not very fond of him- during his visits to the state in the last few weeks.
Mangal’s smuggling activities were detailed in a book titled, ”The Looting Machine” by Tom Burgis, an investigative journalist at Financial Times.
According to the book published in 2015, former textile workers became helpless after contraband from China, smuggled by Mangal, believed to be one of the eminent West Africa smugglers, had brought the textile industry to its knees.
“In the shadier corners of the workshop of the world, Mangal found the perfect business partners. He was the conduit between Chinese manufacturers, who copied Nigerian wax and labelled them Made in Nigeria, and distributors.
With over 600 fleets of trucks involved in moving contraband goods into the country through Niger and Chad, Mangal never admitted he was into smuggling.”
It was during Atiku’s customs days that he formed very close relationship with the smuggling kingpin- who also owns Max Air, which is renowned to bring in trailer loads of goods from Niger to Nigeria and back. The smuggler is notorious to having wiped out Nigeria’s textile and rice manufacturing in the 90s and 2000s where he was a very close ally of the PDP with Atiku as his main handler.
If Atiku becomes President and reopens the borders, he will not only impoverish farmers, he will shut down most, if not all our new fertilizer blending companies, with thousands of jobs going down the drain.
And by his declaration, the former Vice President has told Nigerians that he will worsen security in the country by allowing arms and ammunition to flow unhindered into the country due to the porousness of the borders.