BREAKING: Nigeria Opens Its Borders |The Source

By Adesina Soyooye

Using a tweet Wednesday evening, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate reopening of Nigeria’s land borders.

The borders whose opening were ordered for immediate reopening are four land borders.

Buhari’s order was disclosed by the Minister for Finance at the end of the virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting.

The Land borders to be opened are Seme in the Southwest, Illela in Sokoto State, Maigatari in the Northwest, and Mfun in the Southsouth.

Citing security concerns, Nigeria had ordered the closure of its land borders since August 2019.

Amidst criticisms from not a few people, drivers of the economy, and complaints from neighbouring countries, and fears of the damage its continous closure was having on the economy, the President had, on  December 8, 2020, hinted that the borders would be reopened soon.

It is not known if the objectives for the closure of the borders which included the curbing of smuggling of weapons and drugs into Nigeria were achieved, as the borders remained porous.

Speculations are that the closure of the borders, coupled with the worldwide damage to the economy by COVID-19, helped drive Nigeria to a second round of  recession within a space of four years.