Mr Albert Omotayo, former Ambassador to Mozambique, has called on government at all levels to support the administration in creating awareness on the benefits of the border closure to Nigeria’s economy.

Omotayo, in an interview told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja, said that Nigerians need to understand the importance of the closure.

He added that government was responsible to inform its populace on the need for the closure so that the populace would buy and own it.

“Government at all levels should support the administration in encouraging and creating awareness on the benefits of what the closure would mean to the country’s economy in the nearest future.

“Nigerians need to know what the closure will bring to the country economically and otherwise.

“Though, for change to happen sacrifices must be made both by government and the people in other to achieve the said goal,’’ he said.

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He further said that the President’s initiative was timely, adding that it came when the economic situation of the country was deteriorating.

He also added that the border closure would not only boost the economy but also engage the country’s youths in becoming productive in different areas of the economy.

He, however, added that the drive to achieve the promotion of the country’s locally produced rice was not fruitful due to the porous nature of Nigeria’s borders.

He also admonished government to secure its borders, adding that there was need for surveillance to bridge all setbacks in that area.

“On the surveillance aspect am not sure if we can control our borders due to the state of our development. African borders suffer development setbacks and that has affected our surveillance,’’ he said. (NAN)