HOW SMUGGLING OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS & FOREIGN PARBOILED RICE HAS FESTERED ACROSS NIGERIA-BENIN BORDER—IROEGBU
Two major factors to solve the economic leakages across the nation’s borders have been proffered. Chief among them is the difference in the price of petroleum products between Nigeria and Benin Republic.
Editor -In-Chief of the Baggage Magazine, Pastor Okey Iroegbu stated this yesterday at the 20th anniversary of the publication in Badagry, Lagos.
He maintained that to solve this perennial problem of fuel smuggling across the borders, Nigeria must refine its large deposit of crude oil in order to retain its pride as an oil producing nation.
The subsidizing of imported fuel, he noted created an avenue for fuel smuggling across the borders to some of the impoverished neighbours. ‘The only solution is for Nigeria to get up from here snoring and embrace the development of her refineries or issue licenses to corporate and individual business men to refine.
If crude oil is refined here and fuel tanks built at the neighboring countries and fuel sold to them at the same rate, smuggling of the product will definitely stop’, Pastor Iroegbu deposed. The Baggage Magazine Editor in Chief also noted that the cheap nature of rice in Benin Republic makes its smuggling to Nigeria easier
‘It is therefore, expedient that the price differential will definitely attract them more when it is easier to approach Cotonou Messiebo market from Lagos than many markets in Lagos.
PROTOCOLS
Badagry is a coastal town and a local Government Area in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos and located on the north bank of Porto Novo Creek, an inland waterway that connects Lagos to the Beninese political capital of Porto-Novo. The same route connects Lagos, Ilaro, and Porto-Novo, and shares a border with the Republic of Benin at Seme Krake.
Badagry was a British trading post which was established there in the 1820s, and Badagry developed as a palm-oil port for Egbaland to the north and as an importer of European cloth. In the 1830s it attracted freed slaves from Freetown (Sierra Leone), and, in 1842, it became the site of the first European mission With her large harbour landscape, the ancient kingdom has every attribute for great economic potentials. With large agricultural and fishery options, to trade route, tourism and a once upon a time slave colony, Badagry has every reason to be endowed with economic opportunities.
The kingdom is mapped as tourism divisions in Lagos and left for historians, students and the people of these areas as laboratories of yesterday’s dreams and abodes for cemeteries of dead imperialists’ and colonialists who buffeted these places, raped the land and carried away the founding human resources and left Badagry as a ghost lands.
That Badagry as viable economic hubs for the promotion and development of Tourism, Oil and Gas and Maritime economies must prepare the minds of the indigenes to the emerging new investments in Tourism, Oil and Gas and Maritime investments.
How many people own properties and investment in Badagry Lagos Nigeria? Do we know that Badagry is the best Investment zone in Africa with great returns on investment? There are untold accounts written by scholars on the history of Badagry town promoters of the project also promised to provide a wide-access port channel that will enable the port handle vessels which no other port currently situated in Nigeria can handle. It is also expected to provide up to 195,000 jobs directly and indirectly. Certainly, the Badagry Seaport, which is one of the many ambitious projects embarked upon by the Lagos State Government in its dogged determination to lift the metropolis to a world-class business and tourism city, is a welcome development.
BORDERS SHOULD BE FULLY OPENED
Some of the borders are officially opened, the foremost Seme border which reopening was celebrated by critical stakeholders in the Maritime industry of both countries of Nigeria and Benin Republic woke up one morning only to realize that it is not yet Uhuru.
On what could be regarded as a patial reopening, Benin Republic struck a gold mine with the land locked countries of Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger Republic diverting their transit goods which hitherto were going through Nigeria through Benin Republis Sports.
Meanwhile the transit movement Nigerians were enjoying which was an erroneous violation was brought to a stop. This affected goods coming from Cote D’voire, Ghana and Togo to pass through Benin Republic to Nigeria. It is a clear indication that no single person holds the sole monopoly or franchise of been wicked. When President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic was shuttling between Cotonuo and Abuja pleading for President Buhari to reopen the borders he, President Buhari refused. It is considered a payback time. The administration of the present Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR has done very much to revive trade in this line without compromising.
ACCESS ROADS
One major index of social change and development today, especially in Africa, is
infrastructure development as particularly epitomized by the construction of roads
and bridges. No nation can boast of having achieved development if a large percentage of her roads are impassable. It is therefore, in an effort to ensure even and accelerated development in all parts of Lagos State, that the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration places high premium on infrastructure development. That the deplorable state of the road had been a cause for concern to the millions of road users and residents on this corridor is to state the obvious.
It will be recalled that the road (Eric Moore-Badagry) was conceptualized by the Lagos State Government in 1974 and constructed by the Federal Government in 1977 to inter-connect all countries of the West African sub-region as agreed upon by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It is one of Ocean which cannot be used for smuggling, while at the other side is the mangrove swamp also difficult for such economic sabotage.
There is no doubt that the long period of denial of infrastructural facilities to engaging Badagry Ancient Kingdom could have led the restive youths to connive with the neighbouring Benin Republic into in such economic sabotage like smuggling in the form of concealment.
Benin imports more rice from Thailand than even the most populous country in the world, China. The truth is that Benin Republic does not have the required population that can consume this quantity of rice. She has a population of 12 million people only but they are the 5th importer of Rice in the world. That in 2018 alone, Benin Republic imported rice worth $996 million U.S. Dollars, whereby 98.2% of these imported rice by Benin are then exported to Nigeria from Benin Republic without payment of custom duty, tax and so on, rather through smuggling via porous borders.
WATER TRANSPORT (FERRIES)
Since water transportation is part of the intermodal transport system in Lagos. Lagos State Government should endeavour to build modern jetties and encourage public sector initiatives in boat building and construction to create jobs and drive water based tourism. There are reasons why Lagos Ministry of Science and Badagry Technology to partner with relevant organizations to impact on the use of ICT in Tourism, Oil and Gas among the youths of Badagry divisions. The coastal line of has been denied these amenities for no just
Reasons. When ferries were allocated to various riverine area, non was allocated to Badagry for the fictitious excuse that fortunately one of the ferries denied Day water channel is not dredged. was seen plying the same channel carrying Green Eagle players to Porto Novo for a friendly march from Lagos.
TOURISM
On Tourism industry in Nigeria, Badagry has through the use of abundant water bodies in the area including gas to generate electricity. It also marked up Global adverts on credible media all devoted to tourism promotion; therefore called on Lagos State Government to invest in strategic marketing and promotion of tourism potentials on Badagry in other to attract tourists and investors alike.
The area is already a Tourism hub which also has not been properly harnessed by the government which left a lot of the tourism projects and potentials unfinished. Hospitality business is thriving in Badagry in the anticipation that the tourism potentials would attract international visitors and tourists on yearly basis. The few hotels that can boast of the international standard like Fams Embassy are underutilized.
CHALLENGES (SMUGGLING)
Seme border is erroneously seen as a smuggling route like many other international borders. Fortunately, Badagry Seme route is topographically designed that no such illicit movement could take place. At the other side of the road is the Atlantic
Due to its historical importance to the subject of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in Nigeria and its rich tourism potential, Badagry town has aroused the interest of not only scholars but visitors everywhere who come for reasons such as
leisure, learning or the unique purpose of self-identity (genealogy).
Now is the best time to invest in Badagry before Real Estate skyrockets as this is the only area in Lagos state that has remained untapped. To secure ones future within this location, it is advised you invest into Maritime because of the window to the West Coast corridor to the Lagos business hub. Real estate no doubt would therefore take its rightful position.
Badagry like other regions in Lagos state deserves some infrastructure which are presently denied the area. They are entitled to regular BRT buses to aid their transportation to other parts of the state or at lease to Mile 2. The old method of jammed packed 18 seater hiace or Mazda buses is too degrading at this era. The Badagry lagoon is no excuse for the provision of Lagos Ferries to the area. Bigger ships and trawlers are already using the channel. Other major economic provisions through Badagry if well prepared are as follows:
ECOWAS TRADE LIBERALIZATION SCHEME (ETLS)
Badagry as the major gateway to ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme ETLS should be accorded certain infrastructural facilities to grant traders and players in this line a level playing ground. Trade and market integration are at the heart of ECOWAS’ aims and objectives. Article (3) of the Revised Treaty of ECOWAS stipulates the removal of trade barriers and harmonization of trade policies for the establishment of a Free Trade Area, a Customs Union, a Commnon Market and an eventual culmination in to a Monetary and Economic Union in West Africa.
MARITIME
No doubt, Nigeria holds leading position within the West Africa maritime sector for which it acts as a key gateway to Europe. Unfortunately, with the major six seaports or thereabout struggling with capacity constraint and poor infrastructure, this has led most Nigerian Importers and Exporters to seek alternative within the tiny neighbouring country of Benin Republic for their freight forwarding business.
This singular mistake caused Nigeria her pride in this sub-region and every effort to correct some of these constraints leads to more constraints. Apart from these major seaports, there are numerous river ports if the alternative therefore is having the proposed deep seaport at Badagry started. This seaport is expected to be one of the deepest in West Africa with carrying capacity to become the hub of port operations within the region. The properly operated will also contribute to the maritime sector.
CONCLUSION
It gladdens one’s heart to note that, the much needed cooperation between the Lagos State and Federal Governments on this road has begun and it is already yielding positive results. According to the plan, ongoing intervention efforts of the Lagos State Government on the reconstruction and upgrading of the road from 4 lanes to 10 lanes comprising 2-Toll 1lanes, 2 service lanes, 1-Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane, Central reserve for 2-way Light Rail Mass Transit and various support infrastructures, will span the 22km Eric Moore to Okokomaiko.