Trade Protectionism and Border Closure in Nigeria: The Rice Economy in Perspective

Rice is one of those staples that Nigerians cannot do without; several tonnes of rice are consumed by Nigerians on daily basis. Yet its domestic cultivation and processing are largely ignored by a greater percentage of ordinary Nigerians. Although scholars have produced fascinating studies on both the domestic production of rice, its international trade, and the border closures that are contrived to facilitate local production, there is scarcely any serious scholarly effort that attempts to examine Nigeria’s rice economy from the political-economic perspective, especially with attention on the gainers and losers during periods of border closures in Nigeria. This study intervenes in the discourse by focusing on the political-economic implications of Nigeria's rice economy. The major thrust of the research is to discover how far the trade protectionist efforts of the governments of Nigeria impact the domestic economy. In essence, it seeks to discover the gainers and losers of Nigeria's border closures.