The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun 1 Area Command, Idiroko, has empowered 60 border indigenes to stem illicit activities and strengthen lawful commerce along the border zones.
Speaking during the 2026 Festival of Arts for Economic Development on Thursday in Idiroko, Mr Olukayode Afeni, the Area Comptroller, said that the initiative would also fostering inclusive economic opportunities for the people.
The festival, sponsored by Customs Idiroko Command, was entitled: “Rebranding the Borderline Community through Creative Empowerment and Entrepreneurship.”
Afeni said that the theme aligned with the NCS commitment to supporting legitimate trade, encouraging value addition, and promoting small-scale enterprises as drivers of economic growth and border stability.
“Through the empowerment programmes and entrepreneurship initiatives, we see practical pathways to reducing illegal activities, strengthening lawful commerce, and fostering inclusive economic opportunities for the people.
“The NCS remained committed to partnerships that promote peaceful borders, resilient economies, and sustainable regional integration,” he said.
Afeni said that no fewer than 60 border indigenes have been trained through customs entrepreneurship programme in gari making, cloth dyeing, soap making and textile decoration.
Contributing, Assistant Comptroller of NCS, Olaiya Ogunjobi, said that effective border security emerged from cooperation rather than confrontation, and transforming communities into allies of NCS.
Ogunjobi, also a guest speaker, said that entrepreneurship initiatives transformed border communities from dependency on informal and often illicit trade to sustainable and legitimate business ventures.
He noted that effective border security cannot be achieved through enforcement alone.
According to him, sustainable border management requires the active cooperation, trust, and economic empowerment of the communities that inhabit these critical zones.
Dr Bonny Botoku, the Permanent Secretary, Inter-Border Forum, commended the NCS for empowering the people with the necessary skills that would make them to be self-reliant and reduce crime rate in the border areas.
Botoku, also the organiser of the festival, said that borders are not just lines on maps but the meeting points of culture, and gateways of trade, and spaces of shared history.
He noted the Nigeria-Benin border is not just a dividing line, but a shared civilisation.
He said that the festival deliberately places culture at the center of development, not at the margins.
