Date: 2020-12-15

The National Association of Small and Medium Enterprise has advised the President, Major General Mohamadu Buhari (retd.), not to succumb to the pressure to reopen the country's border in January 2021.

The Kwara State branch chairman of the association, Ayodeji Ajisefinni, made the call in Ilorin on Monday at a press briefing.

He said the economy would be worse if the border was reopened and goods manufactured in other countries allowed to come in especially with the takeoff of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement.

Ayodeji said if the Federal Government succumbed to pressure and reopen the borders, it would erode the gains made by Nigerians during the closure and further worsen the economy.

He said, "Reopening of the country borders will draw us back by at least one hundred years in that many small and medium scale enterprises that have made huge investments into local production will die and the country will become a dumping ground for goods manufactured in foreign countries."

Ayodeji who said that Nigeria's economy was dying and urged the country to take a cue from China and India which locked their border posts for several decades for their economy to grow.

He said, "Nigerians should endure the hardship encountered during the period of the closure and allow our future generations to enjoy."

The Federal Government had closed the country's border in August 2019 and prohibited some agricultural items including foreign rice and grains from being imported into the country.