By Stephen Ubanna
The subtle war between the Nigerian government and the West African country of Benin Republic and the other neighbouring countries of Niger Republic and including the Central African country of Cameroon, between August 2019 and much of 2021, over the closure of the Borders across the country is still having its ripple effect on economic and social activities at the Seme –Karke joint border between Nigeria and Binin.
This is because Patrice Talon, the Beninois President is still not happy with the Nigerian government. This is evident with his government harsh economic policies which had imposed high cost of transit cargo fees on Nigerian bound transit cargoes. The Beninois government had imposed a new transit cargo import duty of CCFA9 million , equivalent of N6.5 million per transit truck on Nigerian-bound cargoes transiting through the country. Under the ECOWAS protocol, such transit cargoes are exempted from all forms of duty.This may have forced many of the Nigerian individual and Corporate importers to relocate to the Lagos ports of Apapa and Tin can Is to take delivery of their cargoes, turning to a ghost border community.
Those of them who were aid to have established good working relationship with the Port Authorities of the West country may have continued their transit cargo importation trough the country’s Autonomous port, Benin, Contou, with the hope, that the Benin Lawmakers of the West African country would intevene high to reduce the high import duty on transit cargoes may have been disappointed.
The Beninois President, who many believe was no longer interested if Nigeria transit cargo importers patronize the country’s seaports or not may have further worsen matters as he was said to have closed all doors of communication, thus making it difficult for an amicable resolution of the crisis situation.
Recall that the Nigerian government may have expected that with the phased reopening of the closed borders across the country and the Katsina state born Nigerian President and his promise to still allow Nigerian importers patronise the Benininois ports to take their with transit cargoes meant for the Nigerian market, that Talon would reciprocate the gesture by reducing the high import Tariff. They got it wrong.
Recall that Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel and Comptroller General, Nigerian Custom Service, NCS, may have taking advantage of the reopened Seme –Karke joint border to establish the Seme International bonded Terminal currently being operated by one Wassiu, alias Mobile. The Investor, with the support of the NCS, may have spent millions of naira to expand the terminal in order to accommodate the anticipate large volume of transit cargoes that may be relased by the Benionis Customs Authorities to the ever –ready to work Seme Customs Command Area Controller, Compt. Bello Mohammed Jibo and the officials of the import Seat.
Indeed trouble may have started when the past Leadership of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Seme Chapter, noticed that the transit Containers from the third party countries are not coming into the country in the anticipated volume from the Benin ports but coming in trickles.
The present ANLCA, Leadership, may have continued from where the previous Leadership of the Association had stopped to restore normalcy at the border community but Industry stakeholders said ‘’it is still the same old story: Talon’s government has grounded Nigerian-bound cargoes at the country’s Autonomous port of Benin, cotonou, due to high cost of Tariff on Nigeria-bound transit cargoes.
The fear in both official and unofficial circles was that the huge tariff imposed on Nigerian-bound transits by the Beninois Government may cause a major set on the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement , AfCFTA 1.3 billion people market along the West African corridor. Note hat AfCFTA aims to reduce Tariffs among member countries and covers other areas such as ‘’trade facilitation, and services as well .
It is instructive to note that initially when the Seme International bonded terminal was opened in 2020, there was hope of improved business transactions at the Seme-Karke Land border Community as the Beninois Customs Authorities were alive to their duties but suddenly dropped out.
Some members of the West African Road Transport Union, WARTU, who were said to have put back their trucks to the road to take advantage of the reopened Land border Area to convey Transit cargoes from the Benin ports to the joint border to hand handover to Comptroller Jibo and his officers, may have been disappointed due to lack of job to do.
The worrisome import situation at the Seme-Karke Joint border may have turned the attention of most Nigerian businessmen and companies to trade in ECOWAS , Trade Liberallistion Scheme, ELS, goods and Exports , thus turning the African busiest international border as an ETLs and Export of Nigerian manufactured products to Togo and other West African countries market.
The Dangote Group, and the Lagos based African Foundaries Limited, appear to have been the major exporting Companies of Made in Nigeria goods.While the Leadership of West African Transport Union, WARTU, are worried that many of their members are out of job along the Abidjan-Lagos corrdors due to lack of exportable Nigerian products , in the recent time, the situation may have been made worse with by the alleged inabilirt of African Foundaries Limited to take their trucks laden with their iron and steel products across the Land border community to the West Coast market.
Informed sources told The Value News that over the last six weeks, several of the Company’strucks laden with Iron and Steel mean for the West Coast market have been stopped from approaching the Seme International bonded terminal for the necessary documentation by the Command Operations Team under the close watch of Dankigari Abubakar, an Assistant Comptroller of Customs over alleged trade offences.
The Magazine took time out on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, to reach out to one Abdulkair, a Deputy Comptroller, overseeing the Command Exports Seat but could not take up the issue with him as he looked calm and only talked sparingly. He never noticed that I was in his office and even when he did, it occurred to him that the Magazine did a story that Seme-Karke joint border is gradually turning into an export terminal where the report made reference to the fact that African Foundaries factory was located at Agbara Industrial Estate instead of Lagos.
He was said to have also alluded to two other factual errors which he claimed he could not remember.His attitude may have discouraged me from taking up the issue of the abandoned African Foundaries Trucks laden with export cargoes on the road. Efforts to reach out to Comptroller JIbo, the Command Area Comptrolller did not materalise.
on the Nigerian transit cargo importers through the country’s Autonomous Port of Benin , Cotonou and Bollore port.
Despite the several assurances given to President Muhammadu Bhari that he will give the Nigerian transit cargo owners
