Beyond Enforcement: Ogun Customs Partners FAED to Transform Border Communities Through Enterprise
Kathy Kyari
At the Nigeria–Benin border, where headlines have long been dominated by narratives of smuggling, insecurity and informality, a different story is quietly taking shape, one driven by art, enterprise and institutional collaboration.
The 5th Edition of the Festival of Art for Economic Development (FAED), on Wednesday played host to stakeholders not merely to celebrate culture, but to redefine what border communities represent: not risks to be policed, but potentials to be unlocked.
Hosting the International Colloquium, the Customs Area Controller of Ogun I Area Command, DC Oladapo Afeni, framed the conversation around a broader vision of border governance—one that integrates enforcement with empowerment.
“On behalf of the Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun I Area Command, I warmly welcome you to the International Colloquium of the 5th Edition of the Festival of Art for Economic Development, to which the Nigeria Customs Service is a strategic and proud partner,” he said.
For the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the festival represents more than ceremonial participation. It reflects what Afeni described as a shift toward sustainable border management extending “beyond enforcement to include cross-border cooperation, economic empowerment, and entrepreneurship development within our border communities.”
With the theme, “Rebranding Borderline Communities through Creative Empowerment and Entrepreneurship,” the colloquium aligned closely with the Service’s broader mandate to support legitimate trade and reduce illicit economic activity through lawful alternatives.
Afeni emphasized that the programme forms part of the NCS “Customs Cares” initiative, which seeks to balance fiscal enforcement with social investment.
“As you can see, we have trained some people in cassava production (Garri), tie and dye, painting and catering, this is to make them more of a better citizens, divert them from illicit trade,” he stated.
He further urged graduates to become ambassadors of the programme, representing its impact positively and demonstrating the Service’s commitment to community development.
If the Customs Service provided institutional weight to the initiative, the intellectual and cultural framing came from the Executive Producer of FAED and Permanent Secretary of the Nigeria–Benin Inter-Border Forum, Dr. Bonny Abisogun Botoku.
“I am deeply honoured to stand before you today at the 5th Edition of the Festival of Art for Economic Development,” he began.
“This Festival is more than an event.
It is a movement.
It is a statement of belief—that border communities are not problems to be managed, but potentials to be unlocked.”
Botoku challenged the long-standing portrayal of border communities as security liabilities.
“For too long, border communities across Africa have been spoken about only in the language of risk—smuggling, insecurity, informality, marginalisation.
“But those of us who live and work at the borders know a deeper truth. Borders are not just lines on maps. They are meeting points of culture,
gateways of trade and spaces of shared history.”
In a powerful reframing of the Nigeria–Benin frontier, he declared: "The Nigeria–Benin border is not a dividing line, it is a shared civilization.”
Through FAED, he explained, the aim is to change the narrative “from suspicion to trust, from survival to enterprise, from isolation to integration."
“Culture is often treated as entertainment—something to enjoy after ‘serious matters’ have been discussed,” Botoku observed.
“Here at FAED, we reject that thinking. “Culture is power. Culture is identity.Culture is economic capital.”
Through art, fashion, crafts, food systems, storytelling and creative entrepreneurship, communities are rediscovering both economic value and collective pride.
More significantly, the initiative demonstrates how cultural programming can serve as a soft-security mechanism—strengthening lawful commerce and reducing incentives for illicit trade.
Trainees, particularly women and youth received hands-on instruction in catering and hospitality, adire and textile production, cassava transformation including gari processing, event management and creative entrepreneurship.
“These are not symbolic trainings.
They are pathways to dignity, income, and self-reliance,” Botoku stressed.
The training, which ran from 28 January to 15 February 2026, featured activities across Idiroko and neighbouring border communities in Ogun State. It culminated in a final skills test for participants who had undergone six months of intensive creative empowerment training, alongside exhibitions showcasing their finished products.
Among the beneficiaries, Deborah Chiamaka, a student, expressed appreciation for the opportunity and her determination to maximize the knowledge gained.
In acknowledging the partnership of the Nigeria Customs Service, Botoku underscored a broader institutional evolution.
“This partnership demonstrates that security agencies can go beyond enforcement to empowerment, beyond control to collaboration, and beyond borders to bridges.”
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