Nigeria's Seme land border just recorded its best revenue quarter in years. A retired Customs officer says the government is still leaving most of the money behind.

Two things happened at Seme this week and they don't cancel each other out.

The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service announced it had generated N9.79 billion in revenue between March and May 2026. That's a 448% increase compared to the same period in 2025. The Customs Area Controller credited tighter compliance, better technology, and the B'Odogwu Unified Customs Management System.

Separately, a retired Customs officer named Seyi Adeyemo told Vanguard that Nigeria's trade restrictions at Seme are costing the government billions in revenue it will never collect. Because bans push trade underground rather than through the gate.

Both things are true at once.

Seme is Nigeria's most modern land border. It sits on the Lagos-Benin Republic corridor, one of the busiest trade routes in West Africa. The World Bank has put money into its infrastructure. It has warehouses, data hubs, and the location to be a serious revenue engine.

The problem Adeyemo is naming is old and simple. When the government bans an import, traders don't stop importing it. They find a different route. The revenue that Customs would have collected at the gate disappears into the informal economy instead.

The 448% increase this quarter is real. It's also the increase you get when you start collecting properly from a base that was previously almost empty. The question is what the number would look like if the bans that redirect trade away from the gate were replaced with tariffs that captured it.

Nigeria has never seriously answered that question.