Border closure and border governance dialectics in Nigeria

ABSTRACTNigeria has 86 legal access points and over 1400 illicit ones, indicating some of the world's most porous borders. Numerous transnational crimes flourish along Nigeria's borders with other neighbouring countries due to the border's porosity. The government of Nigeria resolved in August 2019 to restrict its roughly 4,500-kilometre land borders with the republics of Niger, Cameroun, Chad, and Benin to reduce cross-border crimes. The government reopened the borders precisely three years later, in August 2022, acknowledging that, despite the benefits of the strategy, Nigeria's borders inherently porous. We investigate Nigeria’s border closure and the debate it has produced in border governance using dominant qualitative method comprising secondary and primary data sources. We contend that the reason Nigeria's border closure strategy has failed is not that the borders are porous but rather that border communities view the borders as merely physical boundaries that do not obstruct cross-border exchanges because these communities cherish their transnational social, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic connections. We recommend the government of Nigeria embrace a liberal rather than a realist stance on borders to address long-time challenges with border security governance between Nigeria and its neighbours.KEYWORDS: Borders porosityborder closureborder governancecross-border crimesand cultural affinity Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Friedman, ‘Redrawing the Line’.2 Idris and Tutumlu, ‘Nigeria and Niger Republic Trans-Border Management against Arms Trafficking: A Whistleblowing Model’.3 Hoffmann and Melly, ‘Nigeria's s Booming Borders’.4 Rufa’i, ‘Cattle Rustling and Armed Banditry along Nigeria-Niger Borderlands’.5 International Organization for Migration-IOM, ‘DTM Nigeria’.6 Idris and Tutumlu, ‘Nigeria and Niger Republic Trans-Border Management against Arms Trafficking: A Whistleblowing Model’.7 Ogbonna, Lenshie, and Nwangwu, ‘Border Governance, Migration Securitisation, and Security Challenges in Nigeria’.8 Ogbonna, Lenshie, and Nwangwu.9 Onuoha and Uche, ‘Smuggling of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products across Cameroon-Nigeria Borders’.10 Victor, ‘Border Closure: Experts Weigh Costs and Benefits’, Vanguard, October 20, 2019; 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Miles, ‘Boundary Development, Not Division : Local versus External Perceptions of the Niger-Nigeria Boundary."23 Ugwuja and Chukwukere, ‘Trade Protectionism and Border Closure in Nigeria’.24 Sampson and Michaël, ‘Nigeria’s Border Closures Haven’t Served Their Purpose’.25 Udeh and Nwokorobia, ‘Land Border Closure’.26 The Guardian, ‘Border Closure, Effects and Curbing Recurrence’.27 The Guardian, ‘The Influx of Small Arms, Light Weapons’, The Guardian, February 22, 2018.28 Institute for Economics and Peace, ‘Terrorism: 2018 Global Terrorism Index: Deaths from Terrorism Down 44 Percent in Three Years, but Terrorism Remains Widespread’, Institute for Economics and Peace, 2018.29 Human Rights Watch, ‘Nigeria Event of 2020 Report’.30 Reuters, ‘Amnesty Says Nigeria Security Forces Killed at Least 115 in Southeast This Year’.31 Reuters, ‘Nigeria’s ‘Delta Avengers’ Threaten Oil Installation Attacks’.32 Tanko, ‘Nigeria’s Security Crises - Five Different Threats’, BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation], July 19, 2021.33 This Day, ‘Customs Rakes in over N5bn Daily Since Border Closure, Says Ali’.34 Salau, ‘Amid Border Closure, Customs Generates N1.56tr in 2020’, The Guardian, January 7, 2021.35 Oladopo, Aladejebi, and Ayeni, ‘The Porous Border on Nigeria Economics and Security Implications’.36 Victor, ‘Border Closure: Experts Weigh Costs and Benefits’.37 The Guardian, ‘Border Closure, Effects and Curbing Recurrence’.38 Salau, ‘Amid Border Closure, Customs Generates N1.56tr in 2020’.39 Femi, Kingsley, and Oludare, ‘Gains of Border Closure Blown out of Proportion– Stakeholders’; The Guardian, ‘Border Closure, Effects and Curbing Recurrence’.40 Victor, ‘Border Closure: Experts Weigh Costs and Benefits’.41 Ugwuja and Chukwukere, ‘Trade Protectionism and Border Closure in Nigeria: The Rice Economy in Perspective’.42 Churchill, ‘Border Reopening ‘ll Not Reduce Food Prices – Expert’.43 Faleye, ‘Border Securitisation and Politics of State Policy in Nigeria,’; Ogbonna, Lenshie, and Nwangwu, ‘Border Governance, Migration Securitisation, and Security Challenges in Nigeria’.44 Victor, ‘Border Closure: Experts Weigh Costs and Benefits’.45 Femi, Kingsley, and Oludare, ‘Gains of Border Closure Blown out of Proportion– Stakeholders’.46 Interview with a Scholar and a native of Gembu at Taraba State University, Jalingo, December 2021.47 Food and Agriculture Organisation, ‘Nigeria Agriculture at a Glance’.48 Dukawa, ‘Border Closure: Who Benefits, If At All?’; The Nation, ‘Border Closure’.49 Obah-Akpowoghaha, Ojakorotu, and Tarro, ‘Porous Borders and the Challenge of National Integration in Africa: A Reflection of Ghana, Republic of Benin and Nigeria’.50 Food and Agriculture Organisation, ‘Nigeria Agriculture at a Glance’.51 Dukawa, ‘Border Closure: Who Benefits, If At All?’; The Nation, ‘Border Closure’.52 Obah-Akpowoghaha, Ojakorotu, and Tarro, ‘Porous Borders and the Challenge of National Integration in Africa: A Reflection of Ghana, Republic of Benin and Nigeria’.53 Interview with a Nigerian customs official on the Jibia Border State in Katsina State, December 202054 Zubairu, ‘Rising Insecurity in Nigeria: Causes and Solution’.55 Interview with one of the informal cross-border traders, Seme border post, Lagos State, December 202156 Zubairu, ‘Rising Insecurity in Nigeria: Causes and Solution’.57 Interview with a Scholar and a native of Gembu at Taraba State University, Jalingo, in May 202158 Interview with a traditional leader and a Seme Border, Lagos State, resident in April 202159 Interview with a Nigerian senior immigration officer, Mfun border post, Cross Rivers State, in March 202160 Fall, ‘Border Control and Cross-Border Crime in West Africa’.61 Interview with a Nigerian customs official on the Jibia Border State in Katsina State, December 202062 Interview with a cross-border trader at the Jibia border in Katsina State, December 202063 Interview with a Nigerian customs officer, Jibia border post, Katsina State, April 202164 Interview with a Nigerian Customs officer, Illela border post, Sokoto State, February 202165 Interview with a Mai Aduwa border guard in Katsina State in March 202166 Interview with a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos, Akoka, in April 2021.67 Interview with a Community leader at Mai Aduwa in Katsina State in March 2021.68 Interview with a Director at the Katsina State Chamber of Commerce, Jibia Border Post, Katsina State, in February 2021.Additional informationNotes on contributorsAminu IdrisAminu Idris teaches Political Science at the Federal University of Gusau, Nigeria. He holds a PhD in Political Science with a specialisation in border and migration studies from the Near East University in Cyprus. His interests straddle border and migration studies, conflict and security studies, identity politics, and international relations. His work has been published in reputable national and international journals, including Security Journal.Nsemba Edward LenshieNsemba Edward Lenshie teaches political science at the Taraba State University, Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria. His research interests straddle areas such as political economy, security, citizenship, identity politics, and border and migration studies. His work has appeared in several reputable journals, including Armed Forces and Society, the Journal of Asian and African Studies, Small Wars and Insurgencies, Security Journal, Democracy and Society, Local Environment, and African Identities and Society. He is completing his doctorate degree in political economy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in Nigeria.Buhari Shehu MiapyenBuhari Shehu Miapyen teaches political science at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Taraba State University, Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria. He holds a PhD in International Relations with a specialisation in Global Political Economy from the Eastern Mediterranean University Famagusta, Cyprus. His work has appeared several reputable journal, including Review of African Political Economy, Identities and Antipods.