As the federal government continues to make frantic efforts towards reviving the moribund Ajaokuta Steel company, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Social Integrity Network (SINET), has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently device effective monitoring policy for seaports in order to reduce the rate of massive economic loss.
The group also lamented that Nigeria has lost about one million tonnes of steel manufacturing products and about 30,000 jobs between 2017 to date due to high rates of smuggling, importation of substandard products, high conspiracy and connivance among Customs officers and perpetrators of illegal acts, as well as wrong declarations of goods in over 200 containers.
The National Coordinator of the group, Mallam Ibrahim Isah, stated this in a statement issued at the weekend.
Isah noted that the remark of President Buhari on border closure being blessing to Nigeria is highly commendable. He said the president made the statement while receiving a delegation of the Nigerian Association for Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI) and representatives of the Organised Private Sector (OPS).
He however advised President Buhari to issue an Executive Order compelling the Comptroller-General to fish out corrupt officers who have been assisting importers to clear good, thereby hindering the age-long fight against insurgency, kidnapping and other social vices, which has claimed lives of innocent citizens and caused desertion in several communities.
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According to him, “We cannot fold our arms and allow smuggling to take over our economy, thereby subjecting us to high economic risk and massive downsizing of industrial workers. Many local industries have collapsed due to high rate of importation of substandard products, such as coloured corrugated roofing sheets and aluminium roofing sheets, as well as galvanised corrugated roofing sheets.
“It is saddened to note that while the nation is gradually winning the war against smuggling through the closure of inland borders, no attention is given to seaports where containers are checked into the country without adequate inspection, thereby paving ways for substandard goods and dangerous weapons importation. There can’t be significant success without paying cognizance to seaports and creeks.
“Despite the hues and cries of Nigerians on the influx of the nation with smuggled goods, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) is yet to make any public arrest of economic saboteurs, thereby confirming the fact that there is strong conspiracy existing within the system.
”The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has played significant roles of shutting down warehouses with substandard roofing sheets in Imo and Anambra states. We want the President to set ‘Eagle Eyes’ on the seaports for effective monitoring policy.“
He therefore appealed to the federal government to enact a strong national policy that will further protect the economic interest of the local manufacturers and reduce revenue evasion rate. He stated that the Nigerian Customs lose a minimum of N1b to smugglers weekly in the face of numerous socio-economic decadence, ill-infrastructures, alarming rate of unemployment and high foreign debts index.
“If Buhari must triumph in his fight against corruption and insurgency, he must take bold steps towards sanitizing the Customs service and prevent the persisting massive smuggling activities in a bid to further demonstrate strong political-will of promoting local content and safeguarding the future of over 200 million Nigerians, ” he added.