The recent arrest of two Chinese merchants for the importation of fake tyres valued at N5 billion is yet another indication of the seriousness of the problem of fake and substandard imports into the country. The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), which blew the lid off the illegal importation, described the interception of the tyres in a Lagos warehouse as its largest ever single seizure of fake tyres.
This incident leaves us with many questions. How, for instance, did the fake consignment beat Customs surveillance and checks at the port of entry in the first place? How were the merchants of death and their collaborators able to clear the dangerous goods? Could they have done it without collaborating with the very custodians of the ports? We understand that the seizure was made with the help of a whistleblower. This must count as another important gain of the recently- introduced whistleblower policy of the federal government.
Whatever the case, we commend the SON under the new leadership of Mr. Osita Abolema and ask that it intensifies its surveillance activities, in collaboration with other relevant agencies. It is unfortunate that these Chinese importers took advantage of the laxity in our security system to import these deadly items into the country. Our security agencies should be extra vigilant.
This is not the first time that foreign economic saboteurs and their local collaborators are bringing dangerous goods into the country. In this one illegal transaction, sub-standard tyres valued at about N5 billion were to be distributed across the country. This leaves Nigerians wondering just how far these unconscionable merchants and their collaborators are ready to go in their desperation to make money at the detriment of the nation’s economy.
There is a direct correlation between road safety and good tyres. Bad tyres cause vehicular accidents and increase our road accident fatalities. The country’s accident rates are so high and we should be working hard to reduce them, not allowing the willful importation of bad tyres into the country.
Nigeria and Africa have been taken for granted for far too long by unscrupulous foreign businessmen who flood the country with all kinds of sub-standard products. Nigeria has, for many of these businessmen, become a dumping ground for substandard goods that cannot be sold in their own countries.
The two Chinese nationals caught in this nefarious act should be tried and punished in accordance with the laws of the land. Their local collaborators should also be fished out, tried and given commensurate punishment. They committed the offence of opening their country to foreign assault, which is one of the worst forms of economic sabotage.
The Federal Government should also further take up this matter with the Chinese economic mission to Nigeria and, indeed, the Chinese government. This is because this is one economic infraction too many. Apart from the obvious losses to Nigeria, the Chinese government should realise that the many reported cases of importation of fake and substandard goods from China into Nigeria damages its image. It should be concerned about this and work assiduously with the relevant Nigerian agencies to end this problem.
We advise SON to increase its collaboration with relevant agencies and ensure that fake imports are reduced to the barest minimum. In addition, the equipment for surveillance and detection of illegal and fake imports into the country at the ports of entry should be upgraded and brought to the best global standards.
The SON should not hesitate to check the markets with a view to detecting any of the fake tyres that may have been distributed before its intervention.