The Burden of Borders: Reassessing the Impacts of Nigeria’s Border Closure on the National Security

Are Borders a Burden? Debates and Counter-Narratives on Nigeria’s National Security

“…The north and south political dichotomy has influenced the making and implementation of border policies. For instance, while Abuja declared border closure against the neighbouring states, Omotuyi (2022) argues that such a policy was only targeted at the Nigeria-Benin (southern) border while the northern borders were only closed on paper. This explains why border criminalities persist across borders in spite of earlier border securitisation efforts.…”

“…In 2019, for example, most citizens openly condemned and pressured Abuja to reopen its land borders, which had failed to yield expected results when they were closed for almost 2 years. In actual fact, used cars, vehicles, rice and other products flood Nigerian markets in spite of border closures and a ban on illegal importation of certain goods (Omotuyi 2022). This lends credence to the positions of Flynn (1997) and Nugent (2008), among others, on the powerful influence of non-state actors on African borders over the state agents.…”

Poverty, Insecurity, and Climate Change Stare at the EU-AU Relations

“…Rather than stopping smuggling activities, the border closure created a business for locals who aided in transporting illegal or contraband goods on smaller vehicles, including motorbikes, via remote routes, usually at odd hours or when they knew security patrols were not on their roads. These predominantly agrarian rural dwellers with limited income also profit from these trades by passing goods through their communities (Ogbonna et al, 2023;Omotuyi, 2022). In this way, they evade the authorities and the usual confrontation with the authorities.…”