Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has thrown his weight behind the Federal Government’s decision to close Nigeria’s land borders.
El-Rufai was a special guest at the graduation of Senior Course Three of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja on Friday where he made the statement saying it was unfair for smaller countries to be sabotaging a big country like Nigeria.
He said the step taken was commendable. He explained that Nigeria like any other country likes to trade with other countries but added that there must be fairness.
The Governor noted that closure of the borders should be sustained until there were established deals that covered every country.
“The partial closure of borders is highly commendable. Nigeria is the largest country in West Africa and the continent and it is clear that our neighbours are using our openness and brotherhood to trade, to exploit us.
“I fully support and subscribe to the closure of borders and we should sustain it for as long as possible.
“We need to do this for our country to have a fair deal and for our manufacturers to be protected. All those talking about free trade or preaching about it today closed their borders for centuries and decades ago.
“Nigeria must grow its internal capacity, we will not do so if we allow our neighbours to use the porosity of our borders to sabotage our economy,’’ he explained.
