62 BORDER CLOSURE AND FOOD SECURITY IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF DOMESTIC RICE PRODUCTION IN OGUN AND KEBBI STATES, 2015 –2023 Orungbami Orunyomi Ph.D. Department of Political Science, Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State & Otegwu Isaac Odu Ph.D. Department of Political Science and Diplomacy, Veritas University, Bwari, Abuja FCT kusyzik11@gmail.com & Michael Etuk John-Okon Department of Political Science and Defence Studies, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna okonme@gmail.comn DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33952.39688 Abstract Border closure by the Buhari's administration has as one of it its major objectives the increase in domestic rice production as a major means of attaining food security in Nigeria. Therefore border closure was perceived as means of preventing smuggling of foreign rice and protection of domestic rice industries that will make rice available and affordable for Nigerians. However, after the border closure, here was a leap in rice production but there was hike in the price of rice, which made it unaffordable by most Nigerians. The objectives of the study were to; identify the objectives of border closure in Nigeria, analyse the interface between border closure and food security, examine the challenges experienced at the border during border closure, find out whether border closure led to guaranteed domestic rice production, examine the impediments to rice production in Nigeria, and proffer solutions to the challenges confronting domestic rice production in Nigeria. 391 questionnaires were shared among rice farmers and Custom Officers in Ogun and Kebbi states, while 21 respondents were interviewed and percentage tool was adopted in data analysis. The study discovered that rice farmers are confronted with high cost of production such as high price of chemicals, tractors, competition with foreign rice, insecurity, inability to access the Anchor Borrower's Program. The study recommended among others that there should be subsidization of farm inputs, setting up of Agrochemical industries, provision of incentives and adequate security for rice farmers by the government. Keywords: Border, Border Closure, Food Security, Production, Inflation Introduction Countries employ different strategies to guarantee security of lives and property as they inter- relate with one another. Depending on their national interests, some adopts free trade while others adopt protectionist policies as a tool for guaranteeing national security. The free trade policy is beneficial to nations that carry out international trades amongst themselves to exchange goods they have in abundance with commodities they lack or cannot produce in substantial quantities. Such trades relates with other developmental policies to advance the living standard of the people and nationwide development (Ani, Baajon & Samuila, 2000). The interdependence among nations led to the establishment of organizations such as General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization, free trade which has stimulated and engendered economic development and political stability among trading associates. Notwithstanding these gains, free market has not been without detrimental outcomes on domestic infant industries, employment and industries, balance of payment and national IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 63 security. These detrimental outcomes associated with free trade led to the adoption of protectionism. Protectionism here is can be referred to as the comprehensive government trade policies geared towards protecting and aiding domestic industries against undue competition from foreign products, reducing cost of domestic producers and restricting foreign products in domestic markets. Policies aimed at achieving protectionism include high tariffs on foreign products, subsidizing domestic productions, currency control, border closure, among others aimed at protecting infant industries and creating jobs for national security (Abboushi, 2010). Since the classical period, countries adopt international trade as means of cross-border mobility of goods, services and persons. Despite these cross-border benefits, it is precarious for nation- states to wholly depend on foreign products without appropriate regulatory measures. Therefore, nation-states implement laws and evolve policies to manage their borders and control trade activities. Borders are therefore frequently associated with established security perimeter for controlling entry into and out of a sovereign nation's territory (Mabogunje, 2017). Due to recent global uncertainties associated with issues of terrorism, seekers of greener pasture, mass migration of refugees from crises ridden zones, control of pandemic such as COVID 19, countries of the world adopts border control as a veritable tool for guaranteeing national security, these include liberal countries such as United Sates of America that placed restrictions on its Mexico and Canada (Alden, 2008). This in essence depicts the dynamism and multi-faceted nature of national security. Successive governments in Nigeria, have implemented policies and approaches aimed at discouraging importation of different types of goods that are harmful to the economy and boost local production. These include import substitution policies, absolute ban on importation of certain category of commodities, imposition of high tariffs on foreign goods and injection of incentives such as subsidies and loans to indigenous producers. In 2013, the Nigerian government began restricting importation of rice, and imposed 70% tax on the commodity; this made it cheaper to import rice through Nigeria's neighbours (Orjinmo, 2019). These policies decreased importation of rice directly from Thailand to Nigeria, nevertheless, it caused excessive increase of rice import to Benin and Cameroon, which serves as routes for channelling rice into Nigeria through the southern and eastern borders (Okorie and Enwere, 2020). On assumption of office in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari attempted to boost domestic agriculture, by partially closing its land borders with Benin, Togo, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, citing excessive smuggling of goods into the country, in particular staple food commodities such as rice; which is mostly consumed by Nigerians. As the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stopped issuance of foreign exchange for rice and other imports, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports showed that the Nigerian government action crashed the country's food and drinks annual import bill from US$4 billion in 2017 to about $3.6 billion in 2018 and down to just about $1 billion in 2019 (TREA, 2020). This ban generated enormous increase in rice smuggling via Nigerian land borders, most especially Thailand exploited the situation by increasing rice exports to Nigeria's nearest neighbours: Benin from 805,765 tons in 2015 to 1,811,164 tons and Cameroon from 449,297 tons to 775,175 tons respectively (TREA, 2020). The Nigerian government gained huge revenue from border closure; however the domestic rice producers could not cover the deficit in the demand of rice Nigerians, this triggered food price inflation, which impacted strongly negatively on Nigerian consumers. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in November 2019 proved that the year-on-year food inflation rate increased from 13.2% in August 2019 to 13.51% in September IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 64 2019 and then from 13.51% in September 2019 to 14.09% in October 2019, in 2020 it increased by 12.1 percent while in 2021 CPI increased by 16.47. The problematique of this research therefore is that Nigeria is ranked as a country with number of extremely poor people in the world with low food security, the closure of border to guarantee food security has generated spike in food inflation particularly rice. This is counterproductive to the objectives of border closure, this research is therefore, concerned with the assessment of border closure on food security focusing on rice production. Statement of the Problem Food Security is a critical aspect of general security of countries, hence governments should accord food production the compulsory priority to ensure that food is not lacking. In order to achieve food security, the Nigerian government have adopted free trade and protectionist policy especially border closure. The implementation of these policies over time has been a chequered one with attendant challenges. The Nigerian government recently closed its borders to its neighbours in order to guarantee food security; it perceives land borders as both melting pots and security hot spots. The shutting of its land borders was aimed at curtailing the dumping of rice and other smuggled products into the country. Through the border closure and other programs such as Anchor Borrower the domestic rice production increased, for example Nigerian rice production rose from 2 million metric tonnes in 2015 to 9 million metric tonnes in 2021 and produces 55% of the over 14.8 million tonnes of rice production in Africa (Thrive Agric, 2021), in contradiction, within this period the price of rice of rice increased astronomically. This research, therefore seeks to investigate why the closure of the Nigerian borders that was ostensibly meant to guarantee food security led to high price of rice in Nigeria, focusing on Ogun and Kebbi state. Review of Literature Several scholars have conducted studies related to cross-border trade and food security. The review here will focus on border closure and domestic rice production as an aspect of food security mapping. Chuma (2008), examines the nature and frequencies of rice demands and supply in Nigeria, it categorically states that Nigeria is currently the largest importer of rice in the world. On a comparative scale, the paper compares the ratio of local production of the Nigerian Rice production to that of foreign demands and consumption of locally produced products vis-a- vis, Indonesia which had until 2004 been the world's largest importer of rice. The centrality of the author's comparative techniques and intuition centres on how Indonesia has with a sense of patriotism exceeds all odds to become self-sufficient in the commodity and Nigeria imported rice to the tune of 1.8 million dollars alone in 2002 and is currently above these statistics. Statistical presentations put the annual demand for rice in the country at 5 million tons, while domestic production is 3 million resulting in a deficit of 2 million tons, despite the natural advantages of almost all the Nigeria states on rice production. Chuma's work is relevant to the understudy in the aspect of how the demands for domestic rice has been shrinking due to rice imports leading to low-capacity utilization at the small local rice mills and its impact on consumers security; how the marginal costs of non-optimal sources of rice supply increase with the increase in transport costs. Most especially the current research's target on the aspect of how to attain self-sufficiency in rice production which is a major challenge that lies in improving the quality and competitiveness of domestic rice output from Kebbi and Ogun states Nigeria. IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 65 Alex and Chimdi's (2021), examine methods used in rice production, consumption with trade relations in the developing world. It demonstrates quality of rice economy in Nigeria using salient variables like marketing, processing, and profitability to predict the comparative advantage of rice distribution. Despite many government interventions on home production, including import restrictions, the authors highlight that everything appears to be not well with local production. Their conclusion that frequently proper examination of trade policies in Nigeria is lacking, is noteworthy. This is a really important point. Our current research seeks to add to knowledge of literature gap by examining benefits and challenges of border closure due to border closures with Kebbi and Ogun State rice production as a microelement of agricultural food production and processing sector. Similarly, Omale, Olorunfemi, and Aiyegbajeje (2020) assessed the effects of closure of Nigeria's borders focusing on Nigeria's economic history from 1984, 2003, and 2019, respectively. The authors submit that while the country gained from improved revenues and enormous confiscation of contrabands, the border closure antithetical to the fundamental rights of tycoon who uses depends on products such as foreign rice as a means of livelihood. Their research provides a slew of legal arguments demonstrating how the government's policies violate citizens' rights. The legal issues are tenable; however, the concern of question of how border closure has boosted rice production is a critical issue. Thus, the argument could assist in probing border control challenge issues around Ogun and Kebbi border as a result of smuggling and price rise for rice supply and demands that involve local producers and local consumers. Poorva, Micheal, Ken & Jeske, (2022), examines the seemingly contradictory dynamics of policy implementation to demonstrate that border closure was an extension of policy decisions to hamper smuggling of contraband product, protect domestic industries and boost domestic production, not an end. It examines policies in the rice and pharmaceutical industries and finds that, while Nigeria has great economic objectives, these are rarely converted into concrete industrial achievements. Furthermore, it submits that regional trade challenges, especially illegal transportation contraband products are perceived as hindrances to Nigeria's quest for industrialization. Methodology The study employed primary and secondary sources of data collection. The primary source was based on the generation of data from the population relevant to the object of the study. The instruments adopted for the data collection include the interview and questionnaires. On the other hand the secondary method includes data from Journals, Paper Presentations, Textbooks, Magazines, internet sources. The population of the study was drawn from four broad categories. These are: (i) Ogun and Kebbi states are the focus of this study due to the fact that they are rice producing states and they borders foreign countries and a task force on border closure were established there. The Task force on Border closure who are Custom Officers were mandated to man the Borders to prevent contraband products from entering Nigeria. From the pilot study 300 and 250 Custom Officers are located at and Idi Iroko border, Ogun state and Kamba Border in Kebbi state respectively. (ii) It was observed that Ogun has 20 local governments with 10,000 rice farmers (Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, 2022) while Kebbi state has a 21 local government with a population of 18,000 farmers (RIFAN Kebbi Saate, 2022). It was also discovered that rice farmers are more dominant in some local governments than the IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 66 others; hence the study will select two local governments from each state where rice farming is dominant. (iii) Accordingly, Ijebu North with a population of 1500 farmers, while Obafemi Owode with a population of 1,000 rice farmers (RIFAN Ogun state, 2022). While in Kebbi state, Augei local government with a population of 2,500 while Arugungu with a population of 2000 farmers (RIFAN, Kebbi state, 2022). Table 1 below shows the total number of farmers various local governments. Table1: Number of Rice Farmers and Custom Officers (i) The fourth category includes Chairman of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) of Kebbi and Ogun states. Those in this category include: Staff of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Kebbi state Ministry of Agriculture and Ogun state ministry of Agriculture. The sampling method adopted for this research includes the combination of probability and non probability sampling. To obtain the sample population size of the study Taro Yamane's formula was adopted. The formulae states -: n = N 2 1 + (Ne ). Where n = sample size N= population size e= error limit. The error limit in this case is 0.05. In order to determine the sample size n= 7,130÷1 + (7,130×0.05×0.05) = 390.6, approximately 391. Hence, 391 questionnaires were distributed among the respondents in this category. Distribution of Questionnaires on Respondents S/no. Unit of Analysis Location Number Total 1. Kebbi State Aguei and Arugungu Local Governments 2,500+20000 Rice Farmers 4,500 2. Ogun State Ijebu North and Obafemi Owode Local Governments 1,500+1000 Rice farmers 2,500 3. Custom Officers Idi Iroko and Kamba Borders 80 And 50 Custom Officers 130 Total 7,130 s/no. Location Sam ple S ize 1 . A guei Local G overnm ent 137 2 . A rugungu Local G overnm ent 110 3 . O bafem i-O w ode Local G overnm ent 54 4 . Ijebu N orth 82 5 . Id i Iroko B order 4 6 . K am ba B order 4 Total 391 IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 67 On the other hand, interview was conducted on respondents who are knowledgeable on the field these include: Chairman of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), in Kebbi state and Ogun state. Those in this category include: Staff of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Kebbi and Ogun states Ministry of Agriculture and Comptroller of Customs in charge of Kebbi and Ogun command. Twenty respondents were interviewed. To properly assess the impact of Nigeria border closure on food security using domestic rice production as a research focus we adopt a mixture of methods of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. In specific terms, the study makes use of descriptive statistical techniques of response frequency, percentage chart and rank order to provide preliminary descriptions of the variables in the research instrument so as to be able to choose a suitable technique for addressing the research questions. In order to show segments of the data distribution and compare different categorical or discrete nature of the data, bar charts descriptive technique is employed. This is because it allows for the comparison of the opinions of respondents on different response letters. To achieve the objectives of the research, descriptive statistical techniques of arithmetic mean, standard deviation and rank order employed for that purpose. Given the nature of the research instrument that was designed following modified four Likert format of strongly agree (SA), agree (A), disagree (D) and strongly disagree (SD). In order to objectively establish a benchmark, the response options were assigned values of SA = 4, A= 3, D = 2 and SD = 1 respectively. Arising from this, the mean value for the purpose of decision making is established thus: 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 10 / 4 = 2.50. The mean criterion of 2.50 suggests that any questionnaire statement whose mean value response is 2.50 or above is adjudged positive and accepted in favour of the research question. However, if any has a mean value response below the criterion mean of 2.50, such questionnaire statement is adjudged negative and rejected in relation to the research question. This technique is adopted in addressing the five research questions. Analysis of the Impact of Border Closure on Food Security Food security is a critical aspect of national security, a country without food security is perpetually dependent and susceptible to external control. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) annual report on food security “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2001”: Food security [is] a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 2002). The last revision to this definition happened at the 2009 World Summit on Food Security which added a fourth dimension – stability – as the short-term time indicator of the ability of food systems to withstand shocks, whether natural or man-made (FAO, 2009). Nations of the world prioritize the safety of its territorial integrity, resources and its entire citizenry. This informs the belief that national security is the preservation of independence and sovereignty of a nation state. In reality, every country has a large number of interests to protect. These interests put together constitute the national interest which originates from values, good governance and protection of social and economic wellbeing of the entire citizenry. Based on this, one may describe national interest as the protection and maintenance of national interest of a state or nation (Afolabi, 2016). From the above, one can state that national security transcends military armaments and protection of territorial integrity of a country into protection of lives and property and social welfare of its citizens. IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 68 Table 1: Field Responses on the Questionnaire Item Three in Relation to Research Question Two Source: Researchers' Computation, 2023. Figure 1: Bar Chart of Percentage Responses to Questionnaire Statements of Research Question Item Three Source: Researchers' Design, 2023. Table 2: Descriptive Statistics Result for Research Questionnaire Item Three Response Letters Questionnaire Statements Response Frequency Percentage (%) Response Ranking A Border closure increases food production. 115 29.4 1st B Border closure leads to increase in agricultural income. 92 23.5 3rd C Border closure reduces prices of food in the market. 99 25.3 2nd D Border closure prevents dumping of foreign food. 85 21.7 4th Total 391 100 IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 69 SD = Standard Deviation; N = Sample size Source: Authors' Computation from Field Survey, 2023. Table 1 and figure 1 present the field responses on research question which seeks to identify if or otherwise, a nexus exists between Nigeria's border closure and food security in Nigeria using responses from three hundred and ninety-one (391)rice farmers on four questionnaire statements. From the responses, the respondents point to the fact that item A with percentage st ndvalue of 29.4% ranks 1 , item C with percentage value of 25.3% ranks 2 , item B with percentage rd th value of 23.5% ranks 3 while item D with percentage value of 21.7% ranks 4 . This alludes to the fact why the respondents ranked item “A” (border closure increases food production). This is followed by item “C” (border closure leads to increase in agricultural income) which ranked second, item “B” (border closure reduces prices of food in the market), and “D” (border closure prevents dumping of foreign food. It could be discerned from table 1 that four questionnaire statements were raised to address research question two. On this research question, opinions of three hundred and ninety-one (391) rice farmers were sought. From their responses, mean values were computed. From the perceptions of the rice farmers, items A to D have 3.43, 2.45, 3.38 and 2.36 mean values and their respective standard deviation values of 1.39, 0.65, 1.87 and 0.98. On this basis, items A and C are accepted, while items B and D are rejected in relation to research question two. The accepted items have their mean values above 2.50 criterion mean. Therefore, the perceptions of rice farmers on the nexus between Nigeria's border closure and food security in Nigeria are in the area that Nigeria's border closure increases food production and leads to increase in agricultural income. This is however, buttressed with grand mean of 2.91, which is unfortunately remarked rejected. Respons e Letters Questionnaire Statements Rice Farmers: N = 391 Remark s Mean Values (X) Standar d Deviatio n (SD) Rank Orde r A Border closure increas es food production. 3.43 1.39 1st Accept B Border closure leads to increase in agricultural income. 2.45 0.65 3rd Reject C Border closure reduces prices of food in the market. 3.38 1.87 2nd Accept D Border closure prevents dumping of foreign food. 2.36 0.98 4th Reject Grand Mean 2.91 1.22 Accept IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 70 Table 1 of the data analysis presented above, indicates that highest number of responses agrees that there is a nexus between border closure to foreign food importation and food security in Nigeria, while the table indicates the benefits of border closure on food security, which include increase in food production, increase in agricultural income but it led to the increase in price of food commodities in the market and respondents also observed there is dumping of foreign foods in spite of the Nigerian Federal Governments promulgation of the ban on those food items, the hike in price of food in the market act as an encumbrance to food security in Nigeria. From the interview granted by the Respondent C submit that the ban on some Agricultural products, has made farmers to return to farming thereby providing income for farmers. However, they also observed some foreign Agricultural Products which has been a challenge to the efforts by government at guaranteeing food security. Respondent A subsumed the objectives of border closure under national security he argued that for example he submits that that there are ample evidence that the rice are preserved with preservatives and have stayed for so many years and are poisonous to Nigerians and poultry products were injected with preservatives called formalin that causes cancer which causes death. He also submits that report from the Intelligence Unit of Customs report most foreign rice spends at least three years before arrival to Nigeria; in this sense the rice has become stale and unhealthy for human consumption. He said since government the primary responsibility of government is the security of lives, the federal government has to close its borders to those bad products. That as regards Small and Light Weapons, there has been a quantum illegal arms getting into the country, some the arms were traced to Libya but the way they get in through illegal routes, hence government had to stop the arms importation by closing its borders. Respondent A submits that at the first six of closure of Nigerian borders, a lot of positive steps were recorded as farmers made money during the period but the closure was too long we should have taken advantage of the first six months, look at the recommendations, open the border for a while. Respondent B, the Comptroller of Ogun Area command Nigeria Customs service stated the Nigerian borders was closed mainly for the proliferation of arms and ammunitions caused by crisis from Lybia and stems the exportation of Nigerian foods because we don't even have enough. From the above statement although Nigerian government attempted to stem the importation of foreign rice and exportation of domestic but the Nigeria does not have enough to feed its citizens before it closed its border. This seems to be a policy summersault as it was expected that adequate domestic food should have been produced before closing the Nigerian border. Respondent D who was Coordinator of Joint Border Patrol Team, North West Nigeria, states that the major reason for border closure was for Nigeria to completely understand the trans-border crimes with the aim of interdicting them, the major crime which is smuggling, trafficking small arms and weapons and trafficking humans, insurgency and banditry. Respondent E stated that the closure of border was meant to ensure national security through food security, he argued that the rice being imported into the country are not safe for human consumption as they have been stored for more than 10 years, that even the countries that produce and store them don't consume them. That the rice imported into the country are chemicalized with preservatives that are dangerous to human consumption, hence it is better to produce our rice for the safety of the Nigerian citizens. The Nexus between border closure and Rice Production Respondent F alludes to the fact that the closure increased participation and production of rice farming in Nigeria. The Deputy Director argued that at the ab initio the border closure brought IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 71 about rice scarcity but the effort of government towards self sufficiency in rice production , that before the border closure on rice, Nigeria was a net importer of rice over 300 billion naira annually. He said in 2018 Nigeria imported rice from Asian countries such as China, Thailand and India to the tonne of 365 billion naira annually, which by implications developing those economies to the detriment of the Nigerian Economy, which means we are creating jobs for other countries while we need jobs in Nigeria. He said this made the Nigerian government to ban the importation of rice in order to bring about increase in rice production and transform the Nigerian economy from dependence on foreign rice to getting foreign exchange from rice production by diversify the economy and produce what we eat, even though there is a gap, we produce about 5.6 million metric tonnes and we require about 6.5 million metric tonnes per annum, there is a gap of over 600,000 metric tonnes. He argued that after the closure of its borders Federal Government brought about agricultural incentives such as Presidential Committee on Fertilizer, Anchor Borrower program under the CBN, and training of Agricultural rice farmers, among others. Initially there were some hitches and people suggested that there it should be done gradually instead of closing it abruptly. He said Nigeria would have been in a serious food crisis during the corona virus if not for the domestic rice production because there was closure of borders during the pandemic. Succinctly, the concern of this research however, is the gap that was created which has triggered the price of rice and making it out of public reach but was not envisaged by government before closing its borders. Respondent F argues that closing the border and learning in a hard way is better because it makes us sit up and employ our youths in areas of integrated rice mills, small and medium rice processors and has also opened the space for companies such as OLAM, AFCORT, Indians making heavy investments in processing rice mills, which makes it great achievements. That efforts are made to de-stone the local rice, polish it and make it compete with the foreign rice. The RIFAN Chairman of Ogun state in person of Mr. Olalekan Okusanya Lawrence told the researcher that the closure of the border made Nigerians to patronize domestic rice and since there is value for domestic rice, Nigerians got involved in rice farming and those that were involved in rice farming expanded their farm lands. According to him, the border closure increased rice production increased and created employment. He told the researcher that before the closure of the border he was cultivating two to three hectares but during the closure of border he now cultivates about 20 hectares of land, he asserted that the multiplier effect of this is that their living conditions improved. Respondent G argued that if the borders were not closed rice farmers would have been totally out of business by now, that rice farmers were encouraged to farm more during the closure of the borders. He said influx of foreign rice was totally reduced to nothing that Kebbi state has arable land that can produce rice to feed Nigeria and export to other countries. He said before the closure of the borders he was planting rice of 100 hectares but after the closure he has expanded and now cultivate 350 hectares of rice farm. He was able get 8 to 9 tonnes of rice per hectare which means selling to others who are not rice farmers. The Rice Seed Certification Officer of Kebbi state, Ministry of Agriculture Kebbi state, submitted that the main purpose for the closure was to stimulate rice production in Kebbi state. He said most of the farmers in kebbi state are subsistence farmers who cultivate between 0.5 to 5 hectares of land but find it difficult to sell their farm products. But with the closure of the borders they were able to get patronage. Respondent H submitted that border closure was government want to increase local production and reduce dependence on foreign food. The government policy of no sale of fuel in 20km from the borders has a high toll on the people living around the borders, this makes the cost of living to be high bringing about tension in the area. Using rice as a case study in spite of border closure rice IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 72 foreign rice still finds way into Nigerian market competing with local rice, this affected negatively food security. The cost of production is very in Ogun state. Also in line with the objectives of this study, four custom officers were interviewed, three of them submits that the relationship between border closure on domestic rice production was positive as there were seizures of large number of smuggled foreign rice which in turn encouraged domestic farmers to expand their farm lands and increased their incomes. On the other hand, the Comptroller in charge of Idi Iroko Borders submits that border closure only had positive impact for just six months while in the rest of the months there were negative outcomes such as increase in prices of rice, smuggling, volatile security situation in the Northwest and the youth restiveness at borders which impacted negatively on rice production. He argued that Nigeria doesn't even have enough rice to feed its citizenry talk more of exporting, hence closing the border exacerbated food insecurity. This statement corroborate with why there is hike in the price of rice. The Deputy Director, rice value chain Federal Ministry of Agriculture argued that we produce about 5.6 million metric tonnes and we need about 6.3 million metric tonnes per annum. On the other hand, respondents D told the researcher that from his experience, Kebbi has a very good climate and topography for rice farming and have one of the largest rice processing company in Nigeria called AFCORT which was established for the processing rice paddy from rice farmers which will make rice farming more profitable and easy for local farmers, but the state was confronted with challenges of bandits and insurgents which chased rice farmers out of their farmlands. To some extent the Federal Government mandated the Military, Customs, Immigration and Police under a Joint Patrol Team (JPT) to clean up the border line where most of the farmlands are situated. He stated that the wrong perception that local farmers arbitrarily increased price of rice because the foreign rice increased was not true, what really happened was that local rice became scarce which triggered rice price because farmers were chased out of their farm lands by bandits, insurgents and other criminal elements. He said the price of rice increased mainly because of the collusion of the local smugglers out of their quest for higher profits engaged bandits and other criminal elements to smuggle rice across the border into Nigeria. At some points bandits started controlling rice at the borders and dictated the price of rice that the local smugglers must accept. The local traders cannot do much to save themselves hence they have to dance to the tunes or take their lives and pick their goods. This led to the smuggling of foreign rice, increased price of rice in Kebbi state. But at a time the price dropped because the federal government pushed the bandits out to Niger where they came from and decided to partially open the border on that axis, because chances are that our borders are unregulated. According to him, during the border closure, the government was able to mop up small and light arms weapons and pushed the insurgents back to Niger, this made the rice farmers to go back to land and rice farming was increased. From the statement by respondent D the extrapolates that the manning of the borders by the custom officers has not be efficient, if bandits can operate, smuggle and control price of imported rice then there is a parallel non state actors who wields weapons which the security agents have not been able to suppressed. Security challenge is another major factor affecting rice farming in Ogun and Kebbi state, the two are border states, hence terrorists from other countries which makes them the first victims of terrorism. Rice farmers are discouraged and deterred from going to their farms due to the kidnappings and killings of farmers. According to respondent I and J, rice farmers could not access their farmlands because they were under the control of bandits and some pay taxes to the terrorists. In cases where they are kidnapped they farmer's relatives pay high ransom to free the farmers. Respondent B submits that border closure impacted food security in two ways; that for example does not have enough rice to feed its people and what you don't have you cannot control it, IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 73 therefore people goes to any length to bring rice into the country, in spite federal government has spent billions of naira through the CBN Anchor borrower program to make sure that rice is available in the country. From his statement one can deduce that the closure of the Nigerian border and other programs such as Anchor Borrower has not been able to ring about food security especially in the production of domestic rice. He further argued that the closure of the border exacerbated the crisis of food in Nigeria, because is facing challenges of security in the North East and North West, which is not allowing farmers to access their farmlands and has made us not to have enough food. He thought in the aspect of curbing arms and other contrabands it was positive but food security was not. Mr. Babatunde Beckley a staff Ogun State Agricultural Development submitted that the reason for border closure was for security and discourages smuggling in order to encourage local production of foods such as rice. He said there is a relationship between border closure and food security because the porous nature of the Nigerian border has led to the dumping of frozen foods and other food that are unhealthy for consumption, that border closure brought about increase in domestic rice production and reduce dependence on foreign rice. He said the Ogun state Government intervened in rice production in areas such as value chain and FADAMA incentives such as agrochemicals, seeds, fertilizers and this made Ogun state to rise from number 9 to number 3 in rice production. Table 2 indicates that the closure of border brought about increase in rice production, increased income of rice farmers but led to increase in price of rice and could not totally ban the importation of foreign rice. This is the problem that the research discovered and the study seeks to know why. Table 5 indicates the increase in domestic rice production Source: National Bureau of Statistics While Table 3 shows the increase in the rate of inflation Table 3 Source: National Bureau of Statistics Year Local Paddy Rice Production in Tonnes 2015 6,209.90 2016 6,464.73 2017 6,724.60 2018 6,971.00 2019 8,277.73 2020 8,727.10 2021 9,479.80 2022 10,145.92 YEAR RATE OF INFLATION 2015 9.00 2016 15.62 2017 16.55 2018 12.15 2019 11.39 2020 13.21 2021 16.98 2022 18.76 IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 10. No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya 74 Findings and Conclusion The study was conducted against the background impact of border closure on food security focusing on rice farming in Ogun and Kebbi states. This was based on the problematic that during the closure of the Nigerian Border the price of increased in spite of increase in domestic rice production. The study discovered that rice farmers are confronted with challenges of high cost of farm inputs such as Agrochemicals, modern machines and fertilizers which has affected price of rice and a setback to food security in Nigeria. The rice farmers also confronted with inadequate incentives. Since most of the farm inputs are imported, rice farmers need more incentives by government to reduce the cost of farm inputs. The study also found out that lack of infrastructure facilities such as feeder roads, storage facilities which has impacted on the availability and price of rice. The study discovered that in spite of the border closure, foreign rice still find its ways into the Nigerian market due to challenges such as non cooperation of Nigerian neighbours, underdevelopment of border communities, lack of technology in the manning of the Nigerian borders, inter-rivalry among security agencies, inadequate manpower at the borders and inadequate manpower at its borders, which has hampered the effectiveness of border closures. The study finally discovered that border closure against rice importation when done in isolation cannot guarantee food security, it has engendered policy summersault. Therefore for border closure to guarantee food security in Nigeria, it must be done holistically by addressing the inherent challenges of rice production. References Abboushi, D. (2010). Trade Protectionism: Reasons and Outcomes, Competitiveness Review. An International Business Journal, vol. 20. No.5. , 384. Afolabi, BM. 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No. 5, (2024) ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University, Umunya