 Thank you Dr. Kunio Mikureya, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization for the very special privilege extended to Nigeria to host this first-of-his-kind global conference on fragile borders. We warmly welcome you and your delegation and member nations of the WCO present and all are visiting dignitaries to Abuja. I also bring you the very warm greetings of President Mohamed Ubaari and his best wishes for the success of this global conference. First I think that the World Customs Organization deserves our special commendation for the tremendous effort it has exerted over the years to achieve its vision of bringing diverse national customs administrations the world over together for the purpose of a safer and more prosperous world under the rubric of the mantra border divide and customs connects. Today the WCO were told proudly boasts of 184 members including our own Nigeria Custom Service and the Western Central African region. And I think we must also acknowledge the creative ways that the WCO and its members have over the years coped with the challenges of fostering trade facilitation, revenue collection and the protection of society and organizational development in today's increasingly complex and dynamic environment. Which is why it is for me a special pleasure to join you today as you again proactively prompt the process of putting hearts heads and minds together sharing ideas and deliberating and conceiving of the plan to address one of those critical issues which is presented by the theme of the conference enabling customs in fragile and conflict affected situations. Even before the global pandemic in 2020 fragile and conflict affected states which were just described in short as FCS faced extraordinary headwits institutional and social fragility limited provision of the rule of law and basic services to the populations, primatic mishaps and underdeveloped private sector and violent conflicts that spilled across border lines for states and this for states that are already classified as fragile and conflict affected situations. So the mix of social, economic, political, governance, security and climate factors had already created a perfect storm in many of these states that are described as conflict affected or those that are fragile borders even ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic which simply added a more devastating dimension to tip things over. At the same time as some advanced economies provided trillions of dollars in spending programs and central bank asset purchases, many of the fragile and conflict affected countries were confronted with high inflation, unemployment, food crisis and the high cost of adapting to climate change and all of this with very, very little support. So the situation of course has worsened in the past few years with the United Nations now estimating that there are over 89 million persons who are displaced globally and the attendant flow of people and illegitimate trade across conflict affected borders. It is clear that fragile borders in the context of customs administration now demand very serious attention. According to the IMF also, approximately one billion people in the world are directly affected by situations of fragility and conflict. These situations often spill over national borders and can quickly become a hotbed and pipeline for international terrorism, illegal mining, illegal trade of weapons and drugs and human trafficking and smuggling. So border fragility is a major issue that affects the stability of many African states. The UN states that there are more than a thousand fragile borders in Africa with roughly 600 between African countries. Customs management is of course a crucial component of managing fragile borders. While we in the West and Central African region know a thing or two about fragile borders, the Lake Chad Basin straddles four countries in the West and Central African region, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad and the history and story of the Lake Chad Basin region is one of opportunities spanning centuries. It was a region that was rich in water, fishery and arable land that provided livelihood to more than 30 million people only over two decades ago. The Boko Haram crisis that started in the northeast of Nigeria has truncated the region development course and exposed millions to extreme adversity. Statistics again from the UN indicates that approximately 1,200 schools are non-functional across the region due to violent attacks that deprive thousands of children of access to education. 300,000 children we have told are severely malnourished and over 11 million people will require humanitarian assistance. 4.1 million people struggle with food insecurity and 2.8 million people have been forced to flee their homes. Now there have been efforts of course and many of us are aware of this to address the situation and strengthen the resilience of the Lake Chad business systems which require significant investments. And I think that aside from the Lake Chad region we also of course, just as an example, the Niger-Bukina Faso borders which have also very frequently experienced the attacks of insurgents and non-state actors. I'm aware that sometime in 2019 Mr. Mikuria visited the Turodi Customs Office where he personally inspected the facilities and I think that one must continue to commend the Nigerian Custom Service also for the hard work of maintaining border security and facilitation of trade even in the very difficult circumstances that they face. It's evident that fragile borders not only aggravate conflict, they rob the states of crucial income and could address some of the social issues that contribute to conflict. The WCO I think again must be commended for innovatively positioning the role of customs in border affected areas by armed violence and in post conflict situations. An important part of that effort is a research program which I think the Secretary General alluded to commissioned by the WCO in 2016 titled fragile borders which I think is considered a watershed in defining the nature and scope of the problem and robustly recommending solutions. The study were informed that I quote, broaden the notion of security to its economic and fiscal dimensions beyond technical responses to terrorist attacks end of quote. The program also, if I may paraphrase the WCO's published summary, provides a broader view on the role of customs in the relationship between security and border economy, cross border trade and taxation practices, competition between states and non-state armed groups in the fragile areas and restoration of administration in post conflict situations. I think it's quite obvious from the published snippets ahead of the formal presentation that the report will set the agenda for discussion and action in the years to come, not just now but in the years to come. First I think it is obvious from the shared number of fragile borders and the convergence of fiscal and security issues at such borders that governments must now actively redefine the role of customs services to be properly integrated into the security architecture. The days of the customs service dedicated only to fiscal matters at the borders are long gone and I think that we all have to wake up in governments to recognize this fact. Second is now imperative that national governments where there are fragile borders or in post conflict situations must invest in and invest intentionally in infrastructure and capacity building for their customs service personnel. Third fragile and conflict affected states especially in developing countries must be assisted in acquiring relevant technology such as drones, sensors and other remote technologies to better track goods and enforce security especially in the fragile borders. The necessity for physical presence at borders, especially fragile borders is one that becomes increasingly dangerous and I believe that technology now offers us all manner of opportunities to substitute physical presence at all times for remote presence. Fourth creating more robust platforms for intelligence and best practice shared and data exchange systems must be enhanced. The endeavor before the WCO and its members requires ambition, it requires focus and cooperation and I'm optimistic that you will not only talk but you will also walk the top to help fragile and conflict affected countries on the journey to prosperity, peace and stability. As we embark on this journey be assured that the Nigerian government gives you its full commitment to ensure that any plans and recommendations from this conference will be implemented. It is now my very special pleasure to formally declare open this special global conference. Thank you very much.