What Buhari Told Ghanaian President on Reopening Nigerian Land Borders
POLITICS DIGEST – President Muhammadu Buhari has told his Ghanaian counterpart, President Nana Akufo-Addo, that the chances of his ordering the reopening of Nigerian borders were very slim at present.
He said this against the backdrop of pleas from the Ghanaian President that he should reconsider his stance owing to the stifling of business activities in the neighbouring countries.
Both leaders held the discus sion at a bilateral meeting on Monday in London at the sidelines of UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020.
Buhari said the only condition that would make him reconsider his position would be the report of a presidential committee set up for the purpose.
“We will get things sorted out. Our farmers, especially those who grow rice, now have a market, and are happy, and we are also concerned about hard drugs and weapons. “Once the committee comes up with its recommendations, we will sit and consider them,” the president said.
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While trying to make Akufo-Addo see reasons with him, Buhari said he didn’t order the closure of Nigeria’s borders solely because of food products, particularly rice, but that arms and ammunition, including hard drugs, were being ferried into Nigeria recklessly.
According to the Nigerian president, he could not keep his eyes open and watch youths being destroyed through cheap hard drugs, and compromised security caused by unbridled influx of small arms.
“When most of the vehicles carrying rice and other food products through our land borders are intercepted, you find cheap hard drugs and small arms under the food products. This has terrible consequences for any country,” President Buhari said.
He said it was regrettable that the partial border closure was having “negative economic impact on our neighbours,” but added that “we cannot leave our country, particularly the youths, endangered”.
The president said the Sahel region was awash with small arms, which accounted for severe security challenges in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. “We are in fact the biggest victims,” he lamented. President Akufo-Addo, while showing understanding of the need for Nigeria to protect her citizens, pleaded for “an expedited process because the Nigerian market is significant for certain categories of business people in Ghana”.
