Poor border policing, occasioned by corruption, weak regulation and lack of capacity by border patrol officials, has turned Nigeria into a massive dumping ground for fake and substandard goods. Counterfeited goods, ranging from textiles, household equipment, furniture, telecommunications equipment and vehicle spare parts to used or second hand items, fake drugs or even food items like poultry, rice and palm oil, flood the country, posing serious ethical, social and health challenges to Nigerians.
Obviously, some of these lapses in the policing of the country’s entry points were freely exploited in recent cases of goods intercepted by security agents after they had made their way into the country. A good example was that of an N8 billion worth of substandard electrical cables brought into the country from China. It was the second major incident involving substandard cables in less than two months, after the Standards Organisation of Nigeria had in May destroyed electrical cables and bulbs valued at over N450 million for failure to pass the agency’s scrutiny.
An attempt to flood the Nigerian market with imported substandard tyres had earlier been foiled in February when two Chinese, Taolung Shen and Xu Jing Yau, were picked up by SON‘s compliance and enforcement team while trying to repackage the tyres as new, with rebranded new expiry dates. The consignment was valued at N5 billion. “…Chinese adorn the tyres with new labels and shiny linings to create the impression of being new and healthy,” SON said, while throwing light on the extent to which dubious businessmen would go to deceive members of the public.
The Director-General of SON, Osita Aboloma, whose team uncovered the substandard cables, said they were hidden in two residential buildings, instead of warehouses, obviously to hoodwink the law enforcement agents. The unscrupulous importers had intended to launder the cables into the market by passing them off as Made in Nigeria products. If they had succeeded, they would not only be endangering the lives of users, but would also compromise the integrity of Nigerian brands, especially with Nigerian cables now acknowledged to be among the best in the world, according to SON.
But the seizure or destruction of seized goods does not seem to deter the criminal gangs. They are blinded by the profits they make and obviously do not care about the impact of their activities on human lives or the economy. This has been the driving force behind the imports of fake drugs into the country. Many patients have lost their lives because they were unknowingly administered with fake drugs. Rather than recover after taking the drugs, the condition of patients get worse, some even die, while some people laugh all the way to the bank. They are so wicked they even fake baby drugs and food.
At a point, during the tenure of the late Dora Akunyili as the DG of the National Agency for Drug and Food Administration and Control, she had to take the war against fake drugs to the countries where the products were produced. According to a 2016 report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, fake goods originate mostly in middle income or emerging economies, “with China the top producer.” Akunyili went to China and India to seek assistance from the authorities in stopping the importation of fake drugs into Nigeria.
The damage caused by fake and substandard goods is unimaginable. It is a global phenomenon that also provides funding for organised crime. As the OECD report, Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods: Mapping the Economic Impact, puts it, the trade worldwide fetched $461 billion in 2013. The agency’s Deputy Secretary-General, Doug Frantz, says trade in counterfeit products hurts because it takes “advantage of our trust in trademarks and brand names to undermine economies and endanger lives.”
Many of the fire disasters that happen in the country have been traced to fake or substandard electrical cables or other electrical fittings melting and starting off the fire, while substandard tyres could burst suddenly with the car in motion, resulting in fatalities. Offenders therefore need to be met with the full force of the law.
Imports of fake and substandard goods also have a debilitating effect on the economy. A very good example of this is the death of the Nigerian textile industry, which has been affected in no small way by unbridled imports of such products into the country. Before the downturn in the fortunes of the textile industry, it used to be the second highest employer of labour, second only to the government.
Weak governance has been identified as one of the major reasons why the practice thrives. The Nigerian authorities therefore have to wake up and protect the country from remaining a dumping ground for fake goods.
In a report in April last year, the then Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Martin Abeshe, said there were 1,400 illegal routes into the country, as against the “114 approved control posts across the land.” This makes the job of policing the borders very challenging but not outright insurmountable. With the introduction of technology and aerial patrol, it is possible for the Nigeria Customs Service officials to check the unbridled movement of people and goods in and out of the country.
Inspection at the airports and seaports also needs to be more thorough. Between January and May this year, Customs officials at different times intercepted two batches that netted over 1,000 pump-action rifles that had passed through the Lagos ports undetected. So, the problem goes beyond the number of illegal entry points into the country; much has to do with the dedication and diligence of inspection officials and the state of equipment deployed for that purpose.
This is a fight that cannot be fought alone, but in collaboration with other countries, especially China, India and some other countries where these products are coming from. That is exactly what the United States and other Western countries are doing. Besides, those who are caught in the act should also be prosecuted and severely punished. That is the only way to deter other would-be fakers and counterfeiters.
