Why Buhari is kind in raising import duties

So I just read the news. The Buhari government has raised import duties on a list of items. Expectedly, Nigerians, especially online (and we cannot even be sure if they are all Nigerians, some may be Ghanaians pretending to be Nigerians) have been complaining about the increase. Among other things, the government has raised the […]

So I just read the news. The Buhari government has raised import duties on a list of items. Expectedly, Nigerians, especially online (and we cannot even be sure if they are all Nigerians, some may be Ghanaians pretending to be Nigerians) have been complaining about the increase. Among other things, the government has raised the import duty on medicaments such as anti-malarials and antibiotics, crude palm oil, wheat flour, tomato paste and cassava products. It has also increased duties for rice, sugar, alcohol, cement and used cars. 

I may not have enough time in this article to talk about all the items but I will pick a few to show how loving Mr Buhari is. Let me first clear the air. I reject in the strongest terms any assertion that the hike in duties on importation of rice, cement and wheat may be in anyway related to our father who art in business, Aliko Dangote. It is just malicious to assume that somehow Dangote stands to benefit from this hike. 

Let me start with rice. Some people have asserted that the only way of boosting our local rice production is by making imported rice so expensive that no one will want to buy it. Don’t look at me like I am going to disagree. They have a point. But even if it doesn’t; even if cheap smuggled rice still finds its way to our markets, even if we end up having a shortage of rice, there are benefits. People can turn to the foods that have long suffered from stigma due to the primacy of rice.  Rice has led to discrimination against garri, which is associated with poverty and deprivation. In fact, when some people want to show that they are down to earth, they take shots of themselves drinking garri and post it online. No one would offer a visitor to their house garri soaked in cold water (and groundnuts) as a snack, no matter how much they rave about it. So, we love garri, but because of rice we are ashamed of associating with it in public. Look at beans also. It is hard to find beans that is not tasty. But because of rice, everyone pretends like they have no beans in their kitchen or store. The worst case scenario for Mr Buhari’s policy is that the stigma on these other foods will reduce and finally all foods will have equal rights in Nigerian kitchens, media and public life. 

An increase in the duties for importation of alcohol makes a lot of sense. Forget about those people who will say this may increase the (sometimes illegal) production of local spirits, some of which might be unsafe for consumption. Mr. Buhari wants us all to be healthy by drinking less. If rich people can afford the expensive alcohol then perhaps they can also afford the medical bills that follow from alcohol abuse. 

Medicaments are also on the list, like anti-malarials and antibiotics. First of all, Nigerians abuse antibiotics. People have a little scratch, they go and buy antibiotics. They have little stomach pain, they swallow antibiotics. A little headache and they are off to swallow whatever the shop attendant in the drug store on their corner will sell to them. May the almighty and his faithful servant who we elected to lead us continue to protect us. 

This policy comes after the ban on vehicle imports through our land borders. I have to also comment on this. First, some may say that it is a joke for the Nigerian Customs Service to be banning imports through our land borders which they hardly have control of but I say that is the ranting of naysayers. Where there is a will, there is a way, and I trust that somehow, Nigerian Customs will find a way of being able to control what passes through our land borders. But let us go back to the policy itself. Banning used cars through our land borders will reduce the number of Tokunbo cars everywhere in our country. For one thing we don’t want people who don’t really have money to import or buy properly imported new cars bragging about how many cars they have. I remember a neighbor of mine growing up, who bought cheap Tokunbo cars and filled up his garage and street with them. His children would always brag about how many cars their father had.  At the time, I didn’t have the wisdom to challenge them on the fact that although their father had many cars, none of them was new and he often had to enlist the help of the young boys in the street to push his cars to start in the morning. If Buhari had been president then and there was a ban on Tukunbo cars through our land borders, these children would not have ruined my childhood. 

My point is, during this recession, it is a great thing to respond by banning items, and increasing taxes.