Custom boss Colonel Hameed Ali is an almajiri who lives in a stone age — Fani-Kayode replies to Ali's China claims

Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd), Nigeria's controler-general of Customs.

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has replied to Nigeria's Custom boss, colonel Hameed Ali (rtd), for his attempt to justify the closure of the country's land borders which has left entrepreneurs whose means of livelihoods depended on transborder trade between Nigeria and neighboring countries, in agony.



Colonel Ali in a recent statement, cites China as a model example saying the country had to close its borders to the world for 40 years, to become the great country it is today.

He said, "This is the Government that has insisted that we must grow Nigeria, eat Nigeria. China that we go there to buy almost everything we use, closed their bothers for how many years? They closed it for 40 years to the whole world and today they are great China. Don’t you want to be great Nigeria?”


But Fani Kayode who called Hameed an 'almajiri' who 'belongs to the stone age' and 'knows nothing about commerce', needs to be educated that in today's world, no country survives by closing its borders.

He said, "This man belongs to the stoneage and is clearly as dumb as he looks. May God deliver us from the debilitating gullibility and crushing ignorance of these Buharists.



"When China closed her boarders to the world did Chinese Heads of State and leaders travel abroad for treatment for weeks and months on end when they fell sick after destroying the health sector in their own country? Did they send their family members and children to schools abroad after decimating and dismantling the education sector in their own nation?




"Did they travel to the West at the drop of a hat and go there to tell western leaders how rotten, lazy and corrupt their people are? Did they kill local industries and commerce, crush the entreprenurial spirit of their people and impoverish local businessmen and manufacturers who were trying to produce "made in China" goods?


"Worse of all did they target their enemies in the business community and create massive monopolies for their friends? Honestly this Hameed must go back to school!

"Has protectionism and closing your borders ever boosted a nations economy? China's strength lies in her willingness to TRADE with the outside world and in the size of her population and market. The fact that most of the world has access to that market and that they have opened theirs to China in return has made her very rich.



"If she closes her borders today China would be denied access to lucrative foreign markets across the world herself where she exports her products and she would lose all her wealth within 10 years and become weak, poor and isolated. No-one closes borders in a globalised world.

"Can someone please explain all this to almajiri Hameed! He seems to have zero understanding about commerce, about trade, about how the new and modern world is run and about how nations prosper.


"Outside of that the bitter truth is that the closure of Nigeria's southern boarders until the end of January is simply a crude and vicious attempt to spite and impoverish the south and ruin Christmas for millions of southerners.

"It is also the biggest con in the last 10 years. It presents a very real economic challenge to our neighbouring countries in the West-African sub-region, it is ill-motivated, it is ill-conceived and there is far more to it than meets the eye.


"If you want to stop smuggling then why do you only close the southern boarders whilst keeping the northern ones wide open and allowing all manner of illicit goods, dangerous arms and foreign jihadi and Fulani fighters to pour into our country from there every day!

"Before Hameed Ali talks about China, the Chinese experience, the Chinese economic miracle and Chinese history he should first learn how to spell the word "China"!"