Fatai Shokunbi is the president, Badagry Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BACCIMA). Founded in 2017, the chamber covers businesses and industries from Seme to Ajoremi. In this interview with TOBI AWODIPE, he reveals how the recently signed MoU will benefit businesses in the axis, the many factors hindering their economic growth in the area and what the government can do to revive trade at the border.

You recently signed a bilateral agreement with the Republic of Benin. What does it mean for the chamber, the people, and businesses of Badagry?
The recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) means a whole lot not just to Badagry people but also the entire country. The reason I say this is because Seme is a very important border in West Africa. Many people trade between Cotonou, Togo, Ghana, Benin and to others. And they must pass through that border before they can come into Nigeria. That is how important the border is. Unfortunately, in the last couple of years, trade has worsened at the border – first, due to COVID and then the closure. The MoU we signed with Benin is very important in the sense that it will help us to create a synergy and collaboration between both chambers so that both of us can discuss with each other’s respective government on how we can revive the border as it is currently dead. The situation at the border has unfortunately affected so many traders, many of our members have passed on from stress and disappointment at the border’s continued closure, while others did due to unfair seizure of their goods.
  
If we take an honest look at the Seme border, the government is making a lot of money from there. The place is a big investment and cannot be compared with Idi-Iroko or any other border in Lagos. Hence, the decision to close it is still something that shocks us till today. We wonder at the rationale for doing this, but we can only ask the government why they did what they did but as for myself, I have no idea. Right now, we are looking for a good working relationship with the Benin Republic and how to collaborate so that we can facilitate business and growth so that the present situation improves. This is basically what the MoU is for.

The border was reopened a few months ago. How has this action improved the trade relationship between both countries?
We heard that the border is open, but truthfully, it is not open yet. So many things that we used to buy from Cotonou, we cannot again. Also, there used to be a lot of informal trade. You would always see women carrying something across the border to sell.  All that is no more. The place used to be very busy, but just look at it now – a shadow of its former self. The government is saying it has been opened, but we are yet to see or feel it. The only difference is that now, they allow trailers to come in. However, the real trade at the border has not reopened as far as we are concerned. We are hopeful that the new president, who happens to be a businessman himself and knows the importance of trade, will wade into this matter and re-open it fully.

What is the relationship between Badagry and the Benin Republic in terms of collaboration and inter-trade?
In the past, the border was non-existent; people from Badagry simply went over there to talk, trade, and come back, and vice versa. It was when it was divided that it started looking like we were two different countries. The culture of both people is the same, many of us have families there and they have families here too. They have businesses and houses here just like we have over there; we are all deeply integrated. They speak our language just as we speak theirs. We regard ourselves as a family and we trade together as one.

You have in the past lamented that businesses in this axis suffer many challenges, especially bad roads, and excessive security checkpoints. How are these factors affecting the movement of goods and genuine trade activities?
You have already helped me to mention the very important obstacles that traders here face daily. Look at the terrible roads and the excessive number of checkpoints we have, 99 per cent of them are illegal but do we want to say that the government is not seeing them? Of course, the government is seeing them but chooses not to do anything about it and they won’t be there in the first instance, if the government didn’t give them space to come in. The ridiculous number of checkpoints is a serious problem for all our traders. Imagine someone went to Benin to buy something, by the time he gets to Mile 2, the thing he bought for 1,000 will become 3,000 by the time he gets here and factors all the bribes he paid into bringing it in. This is mostly why things are getting more and more expensive, the bribe-collectors are causing the price of goods to go up and it is really affecting business. Benin traders don’t want to come to Nigeria to do business again because of these issues.

Ironically, when we go to Benin and Togo to trade, we hardly see check points. We are begging this new government to make this corridor business friendly and remove the touts and illegal checkpoints. Government has about three legal checkpoints, yet we have about 70 on the road. Where did the others come from? Where there is a will, there is always a way and it is only the government that can solve this problem, we businesspeople cannot do it on our own, we need government’s help. We have written times without numbers to the federal and state governments in the past, but they did absolutely nothing about this. The illegal checkpoints are still there as we speak, extorting traders, transporters, and businesses, I don’t know what else to do.

What are the plans of the chamber?
We have a roadmap and this MoU we signed is part of the roadmap. Something like this has never happened before in the history of the country as far as I know, and we are the first chambers to take this bold step. This is just the beginning of the roadmap execution, and it is going to take some time and we are going to need a lot of help and collaboration from different sources. We are just a small chamber that started not long ago, and we have done a lot in this short period of time. We won’t relent, we are going to make sure that we get everything done; talk with stakeholders, work with them, and see what we can do better. This is the main reason I joined the chambers and fought to be a part of it because if I am a part of the history and success of this place, I think I am very much okay with that.

BACCIMA’s second economic summit is coming up later in the year. What are your expectations considering what was achieved in the first edition?
  We have made great improvements compared to the first edition and attendees would be impressed when they come. People have been telling me that it won’t be easy as we have so many people under this chamber. Naturally, we expect to have lots of issues which would take 4-6 years or even more to fix but one must be patient and continue guiding the sheep until we get to our destination. We are still looking to many more things to come; we are also working with Alaba International market traders and are bringing them on board. We have already reached out to them, and they are going to join. We also have UBA and the trailer parks association on board to partner with us. We didn’t have this two, three years ago, but now things are looking up and we are going to achieve more going forward.

What are your plans towards incorporating Badagry indigenes into your master plan, especially young people so they can be carried along?
I am a strong advocate of youths and women, and the reason is simple. If you look at the way the country is going, we need our youths. There is a lot going on with Nigerian youths. I have almost 100 employees that work for me and for me to be here almost every day is not easy. Our youths today, sadly, want instant gratification and wealth. I have brought many of them into the chambers but once they see they are not getting something immediately or achieving something or getting instant gratification, they take off. I try not to be discouraged and still try to work with some youth leaders, talk to them and so on, but it is not easy, to be honest. Most youths just want the good things of life right away, they don’t want to sacrifice. To be a chamber member, you must make sacrifices. Honestly, I do not know where this country is going, but I pray and hope that we get it right with our youths. We might not be able to save all of them but the ones we can save, let us try to save them. Just as everyone goes to school, not everyone would listen to the teacher but the few that would listen is whom I am targeting.

What are some immediate needs of the chamber and trade corridor that you want the government to investigate immediately?
First, I will ask the president to please fix the roads as a matter of urgency. Secondly, he should open the border fully. Third, we all see that Agbara has a business zone, while Badagry does not have such till date despite the amount of trade that goes on here. I will ask the President to please bring business to Badagry.   
  
Something like the deep-sea port coming up, I think it is a good idea that would boost business. If you look at Epe, Ikorodu and the island, they are all big now, but Badagry has been left behind. During the election season, I personally gathered some businesspeople together to campaign vigorously for the president because I believed he could turn things around. Badagry voted for this government totally, both state and presidential level and I really hope it would not all be in vain. I just want Badagry to be great again.