NIGERIA, BENIN REP. HOLD DIALOGUE, SEEK ONE STOP BORDER POST ASSESSMENT

CGC Adeniyi making his speech at the opening session of the meeting, Friday

Story by Dili Utomi

The Authorities of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Benin Customs Administration Friday held a bilateral meeting with the aim of having a seamless cross-border operation. The meeting had the theme: “Leveraging the Nigeria Customs Service Trade Modernisation Project to Advance Seamless Cross-Border and Shared Prosperity”. The Comptroller-General Customs of Nigeria Adewale Adeniyi (PhD) and the Director-General of the Benin Customs Service, Col. Raouf Malehossou Aboudou were on hand with their respective lieutenants.

CG Adeniyi inspecting the guard of honour mounted for him and his guest.

The event had a lot of dignitaries from both aisles of the border which includes Customs, Immigration, Quarantine, NDLEA, NAFDAC, Police officers, traditional rulers and Journalists in attendance. The initial welcome speech by the Customs Area Controller of Seme Command, Comptroller Abubakar Ka’ila and his Benin counterpart was followed by goodwill messages.

The first was from His Royal Highness, Moses Homenou, Ahounbe of Krake who said ” I am very happy with the level of cooperation existing between the two countries. I wish that this is sustained and that the two countries will further make this cooperation to continue to flourish.

The technical session of the meeting.

The Regent of Akran of Badagry and Finhento of Badagry Kingdom, white cap Chief Ajose in his message noted also that ” We consider this meeting a very welcome one. When the ECOWAS Treaty was signed in 1975, a part of it spoke about the free movement of citizens of the various countries, we should try and implement that Teaty”.

DG Aboudou left and CG Adeniyi right at the inspection of the non-intrusive scanning machine at the border.

The Seme chairman of ANLCA, the Licensed Agents body, Wasiu Abioye in his contribution made a major appeal “This interconnectivity should revisit the ban on importation of vehicles through the border. This is to increase business opportunities and generate more revenue”.

The host and his guest at the meeting.

The Director-General of the Benin Customs Administration, Col. Raouf Malehossou Aboudou while making his presentation said “We are lucky to have CG Adeniyi in Africa, a man who is so interested in seeing free trade within the continent work. He has not only innovated.the operations of the Nigeria Customs, but also taught other Customs in Africa to do it”.

Col Aboudou continued “A few days after my appointment, CG Adeniyi called me that we should go to Zimbabwe to see how things are done over there. His insistence on interoperability in intra-African Trade is second to none. He has always tried to localise the tenents of the World Customs Organisation, where is the Chairman of the Board.

On his part, CGC Adeniyi thanked DG Aboudou for the confidence and trust that he reposes in the cooperation. He noted that the Customs has been taking the lead to educate people that trade is important and that trusting that the system will protect people is essential.

The inspection of the non-intrusive scanning machine.

He added that “the new system that will interconnect the traders from different economies will be beneficial to all and that is what we are working on. If we are able to harmonies all our policies for shared vision for both countries it will be of great benefit to us all”.

A group picture in front of the commissioned ACG Kofo Olugbesan Women Shelter and Créche Seme.

After the initial session of the meeting, the technical part of it then took place. The heads of the Customs of both countries then addressed the press and also answered some questions.

CG Adeniyi then noted that the economic significance of the crossing made efficiency at the border critical to the competitiveness of businesses across West Africa, particularly as Seme-Krake serves as a major gateway to the West African Corridor.

He noted that the corridor handles about 70 percent of the sub-region’s transit trade and the Seme-Krake crossing ranks among the busiest land borders in West Africa, making delays at the gateway a direct cost to businesses, consumers and regional economies.

“With the border operating a 24 hours a day throughout the year, any inefficiency at such a critical trade gateway do have consequences far beyond the immediate border community”, he noted

The CG added that though both administrations currently operate from the same facility, their systems are yet to achieve seamless real-time information exchange.

The head of the Nigeria Customs noted that the the absence of real-time exchange of customs declarations, manifests, transit information, risk profiles and enforcement alerts are areas with major gaps that must be addressed to unlock the full potential of the One-Stop Border Post.

CG Adeniyi informed the gathering that that work was already underway to interconnect the two administrations through a common data exchange arrangement, building on their experience with regional transit systems.

Under the proposed arrangement, a customs declaration lodged on one side of the border would be visible to the other administration in real time, while transit consignments could be tracked from origin to destination.

Adeniyi added that risk assessments and enforcement alerts generated by one administration would also be transmitted to its counterpart while the information remained operationally useful.

Commissioning of the sports arena.

Beyond technology and cargo clearance, he said the modernisation programme must also take into account the large population of informal traders who depend on the corridor for their livelihoods, particularly women.

He noted that women account for more than 70 percent of informal cross-border traders across Africa, adding that the pattern was particularly significant along the Nigeria-Benin trade corridor.
Adeniyi said about 22 percent of Benin’s informal exports are destined for Nigeria, while informal trade is estimated to account for about one-fifth of economic activity in Nigeria and a substantially higher proportion in Benin.

The Customs head wither entourage on their way to inspect the non-intrusive machine.

The Director-General of Benin Customs Administration Col. Aboudou also took time to answer the question raised about trust. He noted that whatever information is gathered about a particular activity is transmitted to the Nigerian Customs and vice versa and that technology will make the operations more transparent, efficient and faster.

He commended Nigeria for championing deeper customs and trade integration, describing stronger regional cooperation as essential to unlocking economic growth within the sub-region.

The two Customs head also took time out to see some operational activities within the two Countries Customs Services, the commissioning of the Sports Arena and the ACG Kofo Olugbesan Women Shelter and Créche, Seme, a facility built to help women with their social needs while using the border post.

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