No gain without pain, says Lai Mohammed – TheNigerialawyer

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
says ” there is no gain without pain”, Nigerians must endure the
temporary effects of the borders closure to reap the attendants
benefits.

The minister stated this on Monday when he paid a working visit
to the new corporate headquarters of “The Sun” Newspaper in
Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the minister, who said
that the visit was part of his ongoing media tour, was received by
the management of the newspaper led by Mr Onuoha Ukeh, the Managing
Director and Editor-in-Chief.

Fielding questions from the editorial board, the minister
reiterated government position that the borders closure was not
indefinite and was as a result of the failure of the neighbouring
countries to fulfill their obligations.

“What has happened is that there is an agreement among the
ECOWAS member states that goods coming into Nigeria must be
containerized and taken through the border where they can be
assessed and attested that they are not smuggled items.

“However, this agreement has not been adhered to by our
neighbours

“We know that the closure is inflicting some collateral damages
to many people but in the overall interest of Nigerians, we need to
persevere and bear with the government so that our neighbours would
be responsible and responsive.

“You can not turn Nigeria to a dumping ground of harmful goods
just because we are neighbours and share common borders.

“For instance the largest volume of the parboiled rice that come
into Nigeria is smuggled through the borders.

“Nobody is paying any duty on the goods and they are
disincentive to local industry,” he said.

On the gains of the closure, the minister said that apart from
billions of Naira accruing to government purse from payment of
duties, there have been a lot of testimonies of Nigerians in
agricultural sector.

He said many poultry farmers have given testimonies of how the
border closure had improved on their sales of eggs and birds while
there has been high demand for local rice.

“For instance, there is a Dr Balogun who retired from Total and
established poultry farms in Ibadan.

” He called to thank the government that before the border
closure he was selling 4,000 birds today the demand is 15,000
birds. Market is elastic.

“But for the border closure, there would have been a glot in the
rice market.

” This is because of the bountiful harvest witnessed this year,”
he said.

The minister assured Nigeians that with the bountiful harvest
the price of local rice will be crashed soon.

“Local rice is not only helping our economy and generating
employment but it is also more healthy than the imported rice.

“I can assure you that it will not be forever, we are also
engaging our neighbours so that they can do the right thing,” he
said.

Reacting to the question on whether Nigeria, with the border
closure, has flouted the Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, the minister said
that national security takes precedence over any agreement.

“First is the issue of national security and the survival of the
country.

“A country must survive first before it becomes a member of an
organisation and signatory to any agreement.

“For us, it is because there is a Nigeria that we can first talk
of signing the AFCTA.

“We believe that there is an external threat to our economy that
needed to be addressed first then we will resolve the issue of
AFCTA,” he said.

The minister stressed that Nigeria had become a dumping ground
for imported goods and losing massive revenue on daily basis.

NAN reports that President Buhari’s directive on limited closure
of the country’s western border was effected to allow Nigeria’s
security forces develop a strategy to curb smuggling.

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd), has
also announced that the land borders will remain closed pending
when Benin and other neighbouring African countries stop taking
Nigeria for a smuggling destination. (NAN)

Gov Zulum Hosts Commissioners to a Retreat in Damasak,
the Reclaimed Boko Haram ‘Caliphate’

Borno’s Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum is currently
chairing his administration’s first retreat for commissioners,
special advisers and more senior government officials like the
secretary to the state government, head of service and chief of
staff in Damasak, headquarters of Mobbar local government area in
northern Borno, which has remained a shadow of Itself since it was
occupied by boko haram as a caliphate.

Damasak, hitherto a major agricultural community in the fringes
of the Lake Chad that is less than 10 kilometres away from Diffa in
Niger Republic, was occupied and administered by boko haram from
November, 2014 to 2016 before it was recovered by multinational
forces. Damasak had come under repeated attacks including early
this year. Thousands of citizens who live there mostly depend on
food aide and skeletal businesses.

Zulum, told commissioners in opening remarks on Saturday
evening, that the choice of Damasak, was to bring top government
officials “face to face with the realities” on ground and to remind
them their appointments were not opportunities for luxury but for
the serious task ahead of them.

“By tradition, retreats are held in the most serene and
oftentimes, luxurious environments‎. However, holding retreats
under serene atmosphere is reserved for those who live and operate
under normal circumstances. Fellow members of the state executive
council, I will like to remind us very strongly that our
circumstances in Borno State are not normal. If we decide to hold
our retreat in Maiduguri, Abuja or perhaps at Obudu Cattle ranch in
Cross Rivers state, we may not totally true to ourselves and
sensitive to the plight of our people. The wisdom of convening this
retreat in Damasak, headquarters of Mobbar local government area in
the most troubled northern part of Borno State, is to bring all of
us, face to face with the realities of our challenges in Borno.
Driving from Maiduguri to this place, we have passed major towns
like Gubio and Kareto which have become near ghosts of what they
used to be. We have seen villages that are without human
occupation. We have seen on the road, soldiers at different points,
clearly indicating that all is not normal with Borno”

“Damasak, where we are today, used to be one of Borno’s
agro-economic centres. Damasak used to be a large scale producer
and exporter of farm produce like tomatoes, pepper and other
vegetables. Thousands of wealthy farmers and transporters, other
fellow citizens have been killed, displaced to Niger Republic and
forced to become beggars. We are here to remind ourselves that the
oath of offices we differently took in May, June, August and
September, 2019 is not for luxury. Borno has serious challenges and
we have individually sworn with the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Bible
to do whatever we can in trying to address the challenges facing
Borno State” the Governor said.

Zulum also tasked the commissioners, advisers and other
participants to see Damasak as an example that tells the realities
of the 27 local government areas in the state. He also said
time-lines were going to be created for the attainment of goals
determined at the retreat.

“At this retreat, ladies and gentlemen, we shall not only come
up with ideas that are achievable but insha’Allah, we shall be
setting for ourselves time-lines within which we are to achieve
every goal we aim.We are here to spend only few days in Damasak but
there are thousands of our fellow brothers and sisters, fathers and
mothers, who live here on permanent basis. We are here to feel
their stay and to remind us of their needs for continued safety;
their needs for shelter; their needs for medical care; their needs
for water; their needs for schools; their needs for means of
livelihoods. When we drove into this lodge, we saw hundreds of our
young sons and daughters welcoming us happily. We saw wives,
sisters, mothers and fathers joining they welcome us. Whereas they
all wore happy faces, we know that majority of them are in
distress. We should therefore regard Damasak as an example of the
realities facing all of our 27 local government areas, particularly
those in northern Borno.” the Governor charged.

Before the Governor’s remarks, secretary to the state
government, ‎Usman Jidda Shuwa said the retreat for which he
commended the Governor’s ingenious choice of location, was meant
for top government officials to cross fertilize ideas towards
better service delivery in line with Governor Zulum’s vision and
approach to governance. The retreat had resource persons who
discussed topics peculiar to the challenges facing the state and
suggestions on ways to solving them.

By PRNigeria^[1]