Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has commended President Bola Tinubu for reopening Nigeria-Niger air and land borders, and lifting economic sanctions against the landlocked nation.
In a statement, yesterday by its spokesman, Prof. Tukur Muhammed-Baba, the group said the decision “is a welcome development for Nigeria and Niger, whose border communities had groaned under the sanctions, with local economic activities asphyxiated.”
It continued: “The border communities can now look forward to a change in their challenging life conditions consequential to the sanctions, as critical supplies of food, medicines and electricity will now resume, as will air travel operators and passengers see an end to the ordeals while the sanctions lasted.”
ACF also acknowledged the intervention of former Head of State and one of the founding fathers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd).
It called on the “political authorities in the Republic of Niger to reciprocate and fully exploit this window of rapprochement to reset Nigeria-Niger relations.”
