In a video shared online on Friday by ADC chieftain Dele Momodu, Atiku said the border closure hit Northern Nigeria hardest because the region shares boundaries with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic.
“You close all those borders,” he said. “All our young men who carry goods across, doing transborder trade — that’s legitimate business. Now it’s gone.”
According to him, many youths who once ran businesses with ₦10 million to ₦20 million in capital have been wiped out.
“Those young men and women were employing two, three people. Now they’re bankrupt and unemployed. How do you expect security when there’s no work?” he asked.
Atiku also said he has been engaging shipping companies in Europe to develop ports in the South-South and South-East.
The goal, he explained, is to create balance and cut the time it takes to move goods to the North.
Using his factory in Yola, Adamawa as an example, he said:
“Right now it takes me two months to bring a container from Lagos to Yola because the roads are bad and you have to go all the way around. But if I drop it in Calabar, Uyo or Port Harcourt, it should take 24 hours to get to Yola.”
Nigeria shut its land borders in August 2019 under former President Muhammadu Buhari. The government said it was to stop smuggling of rice, poultry, fuel and weapons, and to boost local farming.
In December 2020, four borders were reopened — Seme in Lagos, Illela in Sokoto, Maigatari in Jigawa and Mfun in Cross River.
Under President Bola Tinubu, the Tsamiya border with Benin in Kebbi and the Kamba corridor with Niger were also reopened in February 2026. The Customs Service said the reopenings would come with stricter checks to prevent smuggling.
Despite that, many border posts remain under tight control or still restricted.
Atiku said his proposal directly addresses the complaints of traders and transporters who have been struggling with delays, high costs and insecurity linked to the closures.
