…targets real-time data sharing, faster cargo clearance, seamless movement across Nigeria-Benin corridor

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, PhD, has unveiled plans to transform the Sèmè–Kraké Joint Border Post into a fully integrated, technology-driven border facility capable of reducing delays in the movement of goods and people between Nigeria and Benin.

Adeniyi disclosed this on Friday during the assessment and commissioning of facilities at the Joint Border Post on the Nigeria-Benin frontier, stressing that physical infrastructure alone could not deliver the seamless border operations envisaged by both countries.

In one of his strongest remarks at the event, the Customs boss declared: “Without interconnectivity, this is not a joint border post. It is two border posts sharing a car park.”

He explained that while the facility has offices, dedicated lanes, parking areas, a weighbridge and scanner infrastructure, its full potential would remain unrealised until the Customs administrations of Nigeria and Benin were connected through an integrated digital system.

According to Adeniyi, “The concrete was the easy part, and it was finished eight years ago. The integration is the hard part.”

He said the NCS was already working with the Benin Customs administration to establish a common data-exchange mechanism through which declarations, manifests, transit information, risk profiles and enforcement alerts could be exchanged in real time.

“A declaration lodged on one side of the border should be visible to the Customs administration on the other side,”Adeniyi said, explaining that the arrangement would eliminate unnecessary duplication of processes.

He added that transit cargo should be capable of being monitored from its point of origin to its final destination, while intelligence and enforcement alerts generated by either administration would be transmitted to its counterpart for timely action.

Adeniyi described Sèmè–Kraké as one of the most strategic border crossings in West Africa because of its location along the Abidjan–Lagos Corridor and its importance to regional trade.

He said the border operates 24 hours a day throughout the year and handles huge volumes of cargo and passenger traffic.

“Every hour lost at this gate is multiplied across thousands of consignments and tens of thousands of travellers, and is paid for in the price of goods in markets from Cotonou to Lagos,” he said.

“Conversely, an hour saved here is saved for the whole region.”

The CGC said the Federal Government was therefore approaching the project as more than an infrastructure rehabilitation programme.

“We are not looking at this simply as a border infrastructure project. We are looking at it as a regional trade facilitation project,” he said.

According to him, the objective was to make the Sèmè–Kraké crossing a model for modern border management across West Africa.

Adeniyi listed several measures designed to improve the efficiency of the facility, including restoration of scanning infrastructure, stronger access control, enhanced surveillance and lighting, and the establishment of a permanent Nigeria-Benin enforcement and intelligence mechanism.

He also called for harmonised bilingual Standard Operating Procedures covering cargo processing, passenger movement, inspection, transit operations and incident escalation.

“We need to agree on the processes, agree on the information that is required and agree on who does what at every stage of the process,” he said.

Other measures include joint risk management, dedicated traffic lanes, holding areas, improved signage, regulated market spaces and a preventive maintenance framework with clearly defined responsibilities and funding.

Adeniyi said the ultimate goal was to establish a technology-enabled model Joint Border Post that could be replicated at other strategic border crossings.

“If we achieve that here, we will have built the template for every other crossing in this Community,” he stated.

The Customs boss also announced plans for a dedicated facility for women engaged in cross-border trade along the corridor.

He noted that women constitute a significant proportion of informal cross-border traders and are often exposed to harassment, extortion and unnecessary delays.

According to him, the facility would provide simplified procedures for small consignments, accessible information in languages understood by traders, designated points of contact and channels for reporting poor treatment and informal demands.

Adeniyi said improving access to formal trade channels was critical to bringing more traders into the legitimate trading system.

“The line between formal and informal trade is very often nothing more than whether the formal route was usable,” he said.

He added: “If the formal route is predictable, affordable and respectful, people will choose it.”

Adeniyi said the success of the Joint Border Post would ultimately be determined by its impact on the daily movement of people and cargo, rather than the number of agreements signed or facilities commissioned.

He said the objective should be for a truck travelling from Cotonou to Lagos to clear the border once instead of twice, for a woman trader to complete her crossing in an hour rather than a day, and for Customs officers on both sides to have access to the same relevant information.

“Those are the tests, and they are all technical, and all of them are within our power to pass,” he said.

He added: “The ceremony today is important, but what happens tomorrow morning when the trucks begin to arrive is even more important.”

The CGC commended the governments of Nigeria and Benin, ECOWAS, the European Union, the AfCFTA Secretariat and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for their contributions to the development of the Joint Border Post.

He also acknowledged the contributions of Customs officers from both countries, traditional rulers and border communities towards the project.

The Director-General of Benin Customs, Col. Raouf Malehossou Aboudou, commended Nigeria for its commitment to strengthening cooperation at the border, saying deeper integration of trade procedures between both countries was essential to regional economic growth.

Aboudou said stronger Customs cooperation would facilitate legitimate trade while simultaneously strengthening controls against illicit activities along the corridor.

“Our two administrations must work together, because the challenges we face at this border do not stop at the line separating our two countries,” he said.

He said the Customs Declaration Exchange System (CDES) would enable the two administrations to access traders’ declarations and other relevant information in real time.

“With the exchange of declarations, we will reduce the repetition of procedures and reduce the stress experienced by traders and travellers,” Aboudou said.

He explained that access to shared information would also enable officers on both sides to identify potential risks earlier and respond more effectively.

“The information received by one administration can become useful information for the other administration. This is why the exchange of data is very important,” he said.

Aboudou also praised Adeniyi, who currently chairs the World Customs Organisation (WCO), describing him as a strong advocate of intra-African trade and Customs modernisation across West Africa and the continent.

According to him, “The leadership of the Comptroller-General at the World Customs Organisation has shown that Africa can provide leadership in the transformation of Customs globally.”

He said coordinated risk management remained essential to achieving secure and efficient border operations.

“Risk management is one of the core values of the World Customs Organisation, and we must apply it jointly at this border,” he said.