Customs as Gatekeeper of Nigeria’s Onion Export Future
By Abdulsalam Mahmud,
There is something quietly powerful about an onion. It sits humbly in markets, layered and unassuming, yet it flavours almost every pot in Nigerian kitchens. From roadside bukas to wedding feasts, from northern tuwo to southern stews, the onion is both staple and silent hero.
But beyond its culinary presence, the onion is also commerce, community and cross-border diplomacy. In Nigeria, onion is not just food; it is livelihood. It sustains farmers across the North, fuels trade routes that stretch beyond borders, and supports thousands of transporters, aggregators and exporters.
Behind every sack loaded onto a truck is a chain of effort that links rural farms to regional markets across West and Central Africa. It was against this backdrop that the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, recently met with stakeholders from the Regional Observatory of Onion in West and Central Africa (ORO/AOC).
The meeting was more than ceremonial. It reflected an acknowledgment that agriculture and export trade are not peripheral to Nigeria’s economy — they are central. At the heart of the conversation was a simple but pressing concern: how to make onion exports smoother, safer and more profitable.
For months, economic operators in neighbouring Benin and the Niger Republic had raised concerns over transit corridors, particularly through northeastern Nigeria and the Kamba axis. These routes are arteries of trade, and when they clog, the entire system feels the strain.
For too long, discussions around transit corridors have focused largely on imports — on what comes into Nigeria. But exports tell a different story. They speak of production, of value creation, of national strength. In assuring onion farmers of support, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) signalled a shift in narrative: exports matter.
The Comptroller-General’s promise to remove non-tariff barriers and address operational bottlenecks was therefore significant. Non-tariff barriers, often invisible yet deeply frustrating, can slow trade more effectively than official tariffs. Delays, excessive checks, inconsistent documentation — these are the silent costs borne by farmers and exporters.
When such obstacles multiply, the onion suffers. Trucks wait longer. Produce risks spoilage. Costs rise. Profits shrink. In agricultural trade, time is not just money — it is quality, freshness and competitiveness. Nigeria’s onion story is, in many ways, a success story waiting to be fully told.
With an annual production of about 2.1 million metric tonnes, the country ranks as Africa’s second-largest onion producer after Egypt. The value of this production runs into trillions of naira, underscoring the crop’s economic importance. Yet production alone is not prosperity.
What transforms harvest into wealth is access — access to markets, corridors and efficient regulatory systems. That is why the engagement between Customs and onion stakeholders carries weight beyond policy language. Aliyu Maitasamu, the President of (ORO/AOC), came not with confrontation but with collaboration.
His message was clear: the association recognises the complexity of regulating cross-border trade and stands ready to support compliance and documentation across corridors. This spirit of partnership is crucial. Trade regulation must balance security with facilitation.
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Borders must be secure, but they must also function. When enforcement becomes obstruction, both state and stakeholder lose. The Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, Timi Bomodi, captured this delicate balance when he described the proposed token system as one built on data and infrastructure.
Data ensures transparency. Infrastructure ensures sustainability. Heavy trucks bearing onion consignments inevitably strain roads. Maintenance requires funding. A structured system that recovers costs while ensuring predictable transit may, if carefully managed, benefit all parties.
Predictability, after all, is the currency of trade. Beyond policy, there is symbolism in this engagement. The onion, grown in northern fields under harsh sun, becomes a bridge across regions and nations. Nigeria and the Niger Republic remain two of the most significant players in onion production within ECOWAS and the Sahel.
Trade in onion is therefore not merely commercial; it is regional integration in motion. In rural communities, onion farming is often generational. Knowledge passes from father to son, from mother to daughter. Markets rise at dawn, voices bargaining in Hausa and Fulfulde, prices negotiated in trust and urgency. When exports flow smoothly, these communities feel the impact first.
Employment grows not only on farms but along the value chain. From sorting and packaging to transport and wholesale, the onion economy sustains thousands. Exports create jobs, strengthen balance of trade and contribute to national output. These are not abstract economic terms; they are daily realities.
The Nigeria Customs’ assurance to “stand solidly” behind onion farmers therefore carries emotional weight. It signals recognition — that the farmer in Kebbi or Kano is part of a larger national story. That exports are not secondary to imports. That agriculture is not ornamental but foundational.
There is also a broader lesson here about governance. Regulatory agencies are not merely enforcers; they are facilitators of lawful enterprise. When they listen, engage and adjust frameworks to reflect legitimate concerns, they strengthen institutional trust. Nigeria’s economic future depends in part on how effectively it can move from consumption-driven narratives to production-led growth.
Supporting export corridors is a practical step in that direction. Every successful onion shipment is a small affirmation of that shift. Of course, challenges remain. Cross-border trade is complex. Smuggling, security threats and informal routes complicate regulation.
Yet complexity should not become paralysis. Structured engagement, transparent systems and mutual accountability can transform friction into functionality.
In the end, the love for onion is about more than taste. It is about resilience. About farmers who cultivate despite uncertainty. About traders who navigate long distances. About institutions learning to align enforcement with empowerment.
If Nigeria can get onion right — if it can protect its corridors, streamline its processes and honour its producers — it can get much else right too. Sometimes, the path to economic clarity lies not in grand declarations but in the quiet strengthening of everyday trade.
The meeting in Abuja may have lasted only hours, but its implications stretch across fields and borders. In the layered structure of an onion, one finds depth beneath simplicity. In supporting onion exports, Nigeria peels back another layer of its economic potential.
And perhaps, in that layered metaphor, lies the deeper truth: prosperity, like an onion, is built layer by layer — policy, partnership, production and trust.
Mahmud, Deputy Editor of PRNigeria, wrote in via: [email protected].
