How border closure impacts Nigeria’s security and regional interests

In October Nigerian Customs Service comptroller-general Hameed Ali announced the closure of Nigeria’s land borders. The announcement was made after a partial closure of the country’s border with the Benin Republic in August, following an earlier order by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The border closure, expected to end on 31 January 2020, is being enforced through an ad-hoc multi-agency border security exercise code-named ‘Ex-Swift Response’, coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser and conducted by the customs, immigration, police and military.

The unilateral closure of Nigeria’s land borders goes against freedom of movement and trade treaties signed by the country under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and more recently the historic African Continental Free Trade Agreement signed in July.  The agreement is designed to bring down trade barriers and build bridges to improve trade in Africa.

The Nigerian authorities believe the temporary border closure will curb the smuggling of rice, drugs and small light weapons. They also hope it will reduce kidnappings and worsening insecurity in the country. While these concerns are legitimate, the current approach towards border security as a tool to protect local farmers and national security doesn’t address the underlying factors sustaining smuggling or provide a sustainable and effective border security approach.  It also fails to provide incentives through trade deals and subsidies or improve productivity to give local producers the capacity to compete with foreign counterparts or achieve national self-sufficiency.

Border security

Nigeria has 4,470 square kilometres of international land borders with Chad, Cameroon, Benin and Niger.  It is connected with other parts of West Africa and the Sahel through centuries-old ties. These complex cross- border relationships come as a result of geographical, socio-economic, historical and cultural factors.

Nigeria’s borders are largely unmanned and in 2016 the former Comptroller General of the immigration service Mr Martin Kure Abeshi revealed that Nigeria has almost 1,500 identified land border crossings.  Of these only 114, covering about 4,000 square km had approved control posts manned by immigration officials and other security agencies.

It is nearly impossible to sustain the current ad-hoc border security and unilateral closure of borders, but the negative effect on Nigeria’s regional reputation, perception and influence will have a longer negative effect on her interests in the region. Furthermore, it’s important for Nigeria to build a sustainable and efficient border security system which is capable of improving capabilities and capacity of security agencies in charge of protecting and securing the borders.

While it’s difficult to physically secure the thousands of miles of the border, improving tools and training for border agents and investing in border security technology are important.  To do so will help address the underlying factors driving smuggling such as Nigeria’s inefficient and congested port terminals, drug abuse and poor enforcement of drug regulations, weak criminal justice and law enforcement system.  Poor law enforcement is partly responsible for the rise in self defense groups and rise in criminality.  Unemployment also makes young people vulnerable to recruitment by smugglers.

Border security through multilateral and bilateral security cooperation

Extending Nigeria’s border security outward is vital so that the borderline is made the last line of defence, not the first. To effectively fight the multiple and cross-border security threats today is through investing in regional and transnational security cooperation, building better global partnerships and enhancing intelligence gathering, processing and dissemination to provide the information needed for policymaking and response by border security agencies.

Improving bilateral agreements between Nigeria and countries where these contrabands and harmful items originate is important.  Multilateral security agreements are precisely what the Programme for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED) was set up at the request of the ECOWAS heads of state and government to achieve.  And to effectively enforce a moratorium on small and light weapons proliferation through providing technical support for a multinational, multidimensional and multi-institutional approach to curbing arms proliferation and insecurity.

Through monitoring of weapons circulation, centralization and establishment of a weapon database and regional arms register, depends on stable – strategic foreign and trade policy, trust and commitment.

Nigeria Regional interest

Nigeria is an important member of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States and Economic Community of West African States. Member states of these regional organizations provide vital markets for Nigerian products and participate in multinational-transnational security cooperation such as the multinational joint task force operating in Lake Chad against Boko Haram and its splinter Islamic State in West Africa province ISWAP. The recently expanded counter-terrorism G-5 Sahel force fights militants and violent extremists across the Sahel and joint anti-banditry operations against bandits operating between the Niger Republic and Nigeria.

Unilateral border closures disrupt centuries-old trans-Saharan relationships and corridors for the movement of people, animals and trade.  These are crucial for food and economic security of states in Nigeria’s immediate vicinity, and the ripple effect will be felt across the region.

This has the potential to create hostility towards Nigeria’s interests, commitment to regional security partnerships and diminish the country’s trustworthiness and threaten alliances built over decades of sacrifice to ensure stability in the region. Nigeria can’t afford to be isolated or relegated at a time of great power competition in the region and build-up of foreign security and economic interest.

Border closures are counterproductive for Nigeria’s security, regional influence and interests.