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“How border closure helped Nigeria” Buhari to Queen of Netherlands
Modupe Shodeinde
President Buhari has reportedly revealed how his border closure policy positively helped the country.
Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said the president said this when he held a meeting with Maxima Zorreguieta, Queen of the Netherlands
The president, who is currently in New York for the 76th United Nations general assembly, held a meeting with Maxima Zorreguieta, Queen of the Netherlands, on Wednesday.
President Buhari said the decision to close the country’s borders was to encourage farmers, “and eat what we grow”.
He was quoted to have said: “People went back to the land, and this helped us tremendously. We made fertilizers available, resuscitated dams, and it all paid off handsomely.
“Otherwise, with about 200 million people, we would have been in trouble when COVID-19 struck, and affected the economy.”
The federal government had, in August 2019, ordered a closure of the country’s land borders over illegal importation of drugs, arms and agricultural products into Nigeria from neighbouring West African countries.
In December 2020, Buhari ordered the reopening of four land borders.
The president had however expressed concern over the failure of the border closure to stop arms smuggling into Nigeria
