Dera Nnadi, newly deployed Customs Area Controller (CAC) of Seme Border Command has assumed duty with a pledge to sustain and improve tempo of trade facilitation at Nigeria’s busiest land frontier.
Speaking at a brief handover ceremony, Nnadi who described Nigeria as a strategic economic player in Africa, said schemes like ongoing ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) and soon to take off African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will be explored for common good.
According to the new CAC, Nigeria’s economy is central to the West African sub region with a population of over 200m and the country has potentials to contribute to the over 1billion African population through the AfCFTA regime
He urged his operatives, other government agencies, members of the border community and travelers to
embrace challenges of trans border trade and comply with the law guiding trans border trade all the time.
Nnadi who said border communities have challenges that are not insurmountable, added that there is need to cover infrastructural gaps that will improve their standards of living and promote lawful sources of livelihood.
Ahead of the 2023 elections, he advised his officers to be polite to travelers and traders using the Seme corridor and be firm in curbing any form of lawlessness.
He said his experience and knowledge from previous assignments across the border and his academic exposures will be deployed to border administration
As a participant at the Senior Executive Course 44 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies(NIPSS), Nnadi said he authored a paper on
Under Development of Border Communities and it’s Impact on Customs Operations.
While promising to interact closely with traditional rulers and other members of the border area, he solicited closer stakeholder interactions at strategic and operational levels
