In a show of political grandstanding, President Bola Tinubu has directed the reopening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with the Republic of Niger.
He also ordered the lifting of other sanctions against the country with immediate effect.
A statement by the President’s media aide, Ajuri Ngelale, noted that the directive was in compliance with the decisions of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at its Extraordinary Summit on February 24, 2024, in Abuja.
This was as a motion by Senator Suleiman Kawu Sumaila (NNPP, Kano South) calling for the reopening of the Nigeria-Niger land border shut following a military coup in Niger Republic suffered a setback in Nigeria’s Senate in October 2023.
Recall that on January 28, the three military juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger announced they would leave the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a move that would limit opportunities for their citizens to seek justice for human rights violations.
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Unsettled by the quit notice, ECOWAS leaders who had wanted to slam sanctions on them hurriedly agreed to lift economic sanctions against the Republic of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.
Tinubu also lifted the suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between Nigeria and Niger, as well as the freeze of all service transactions, including utility services and electricity to Niger Republic.
The President also directed that the freezing of assets of the Republic of Niger in ECOWAS Central Banks be lifted.
“Travel bans on government officials and their family members also stand lifted,” the statement added.
The gesture was also extended to Republic of Guinea, with the lifting of financial and economic sanctions.
However, Niger Republic is yet to react to the opening of its borders as announced by Nigeria.
Impacts of Nigeria-Niger borders closure
The President, of the Association of Freight Forwarding Practitioners of Nigeria, said its members and other businessmen operating at the Nigerian borders recorded N13 billion losses every week as a result of the closure of all Nigerian/Niger borders by the Federal Government.
Also, The Nigerian-Nigerien trade worth about $226.34 million is at risk of breaking down following a border closure between the two countries.
Then acting Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, recently announced that because of current conditions in Niger, the borders had been blocked, with certain locations becoming off-limits to travel.
Moreover, Niger Republic’s closure of its airspace pushed up the cost of flights from Nigeria to Europe, Asia and the United States, stakeholders have said.
Nigerians were paying more than N1 million to travel to Europe, Asia and the US as a result of airlines’ trapped funds and exchange rate depreciation.
