The Senator representing Nasarawa West, Abdullahi Adamu has asked the Federal Government to ignore concerns in some quarters that the border closure was impacting negatively on the economy.

Mr Adamu, who is the Chairman Senate Committee on Agriculture, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Saturday.

According to him, the cries were being sponsored by smugglers who were hard hit by the policy.

He noted that there is no doubt that adjusting to a new lifestyle of patronising made in Nigeria products will result in temporary inconveniences, but to say the policy is not beneficial is not true.

“The hews and cries we hear are sponsored cries, sponsored in the sense that for whatever reason those who are suffering as a result of closure are those who are into the business of smuggling into this country.

”Therefore, they are being challenged and the only thing they can do is to blackmail the government to say that yes they are being denied their source of livelihood but that source of livelihood of theirs is at the detriment of the greater good of the Nigerian nation and its people.

“If we allow our borders to continue to be porous. If we continue to listen to the cries of people who are shedding crocodile tears about the border closure, then we will not be able to protect our own.

“We will not be able to ensure that we develop policies deliberately to protect the interest of people that we are to protect.

“So, yes people are doing businesses with the borders opened but what they are doing is at the expense of the growth of Nigeria’s business.

“Quite a number of what is imported through these neighbours of ours are things that challenge our own ability or plans to produce. We have allowed our borders for so long to be a conduit for bringing into the country what Nigerians are producing.

“And because the cost of production in the so-called developed nations is not much, because they know when we produce what they are bringing into the country, our cost of production is way more than their own.

“And so in the market, their produce is cheaper than our own. The challenge we have is whether we should continue to leave our borders so porous for them to be doing brisk business at the expense of the Nigerian producers, or we contain their excesses so as to give the Nigerian business community the opportunity to brace up,’’ he said.

He further said, “Yes there is an artificial increase in the prices of essential foodstuff just to undermine the effort of the government to say people are now suffering. Christmas is at the corner and the prices of foodstuff have increased and all of that but these are all artificial.

“They are all stage-managed to frighten government to say this policy is not popular, we must change it. I think they have the wrong person in their mind. President Muhammadu Buhari is very strong-hearted.”

According to the lawmaker, one major impact of the border closure is changing of Nigerians’ preference for foreign goods.

“The frozen chickens they import are not healthy for consumption. The rice they import, who knows how long they have been stored.

“They just bring it and because it is foreign and we have got the mentality, the appetite of consuming imported produce they put us in the state of mind unfortunately that is making it difficult for people to change,” he said.

Mr Adamu declared total support for the government on the development, pointing out that it was one of the occasions that the Federal Government stood up to protect the interest of Nigerians.

On concerns that the development was affecting the cordial relationship Nigeria enjoyed with neighbouring countries over the years, Mr Adamu said, while Nigerians believed in good neighbourliness, the primary responsibility of government was the preservation of lives of Nigerians and protection of their property.

He said, while the borders may not remain closed forever, some lessons had been learnt.

He prayed God to continue to strengthen President Muhammadu Buhari and all his appointees in charge of the subject matter to stand up to their oath of office and protect the borders and Nigerian businesses by keeping the borders in check.

The National President, Rice Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Mr. Aminu Goronyo, noted that members of the association are fully ready to meet demands during and after this season.

“We are fully ready, 100 per cent fully ready. Production is going on, processing is going on, packaging is going on, we are on track and God willing, Christmas will come and go successfully. Nobody will cry about rice,” he said.

On the prices that are still on the high side, Goronyo stated that the association is doing all it can to ensure that those sabotaging rice availability are exposed and forwarded to the appropriate authority for punishment.

“We are doing a lot to ensure that those that are sabotaging rice availability are exposed and we will also forward them to the appropriate authority for punishment because now, we are selling N14,000 per 50kg bag. There are unpatriotic Nigerians who always want to sabotage Nigerians because they are not patriotic to their country.

“Because of the small gains they make, they are always making it difficult for Nigerians to survive. Those are the people that buy, hold and sell at exorbitant rates and we are trying to make sure that they do not succeed. We will continue to sell at N14, 000; we will continue to call on the government to arrest those that are selling above N15, 000 and N16, 000,” he added.

Channels Television has emerged winner of the Nigerian Media Merit Award (NMMA) for Best Television Station Of The Year for a record 13th time.

The award-winning station bagged the honour which recognises media excellence in Nigeria on Sunday at a ceremony which held at the Muson Centre in Lagos.

Channels Television’s General Manager (Special Duties), Mr Steve Judo, led a team of staff members to the event to receive the award on behalf of the organisation.

Others in attendance include the Controller of Programmes, Mr Ambrose Okoh, and Channels TV Presenter, Gimba Umar.

Meanwhile, Channels Television’s political correspondent, Seun Okinbaloye, won the Television Programme Presenter of the Year.

The award is one of the numerous recognitions Channels Television has received in Nigeria and globally for its programming, with an audience of more than 20 million people within and outside the country.

Prior to the latest feat, Channels Television last won the Best Station of the Year in 2017.

This is in addition to claiming the prize in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Elsewhere, TVC’s Mike Okwoche won the Television Newscaster of the Year.

In the print category, the Punch Newspaper beat the Guardian Newspaper and Daily Trust to win the Babatunde Jose Prize for the Newspaper of the Year.

But Abraham Ogbodo of the Guardian Newspaper bagged the Dele Giwa Prize for Editor of the Year, beating Nasir Abubakar of Daily Trust and the Punch’s Martin Ayankola.

In a similar development, a former governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba, as well as a marketing communications practitioner, Biodun Shobanjo, were recognised for a professional life dedicated to media excellence and service to the nation.

Earlier, the chairman of NMMA Panel of Assessors, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, gave an assessment of the entries submitted.

He noted that there were higher entries compared to last year and stressed the need for thorough editing and quality control by editors.

Professor Akinfeleye decried that some of the entries submitted for various categories lacked depth, focus, concern, and news angle.

The awards were handed out in more than 51 categories, with a majority in the print category.

The event was well attended by dignitaries, as well as young and veteran media practitioners in the country.

-ChannelTv