The Buhari second term (2019–2023) produced four reversals that, together, made the F.O.O.D framework legible to the general public for the first time.
## Land Border Closure (20 August 2019 – 31 December 2020)
Claiming to fight rice smuggling, the Buhari administration shut all land borders to commercial traffic. The official goal was to protect domestic rice millers. The actual outcomes:
- Rice prices doubled (₦14,000 to ₦30,000 per 50 kg bag at peak).
- Inflation hit 17.3% by December 2020 — the highest in three years.
- ECOWAS protested formally; cross-border trade in the West African corridor collapsed.
- The Niger Republic, Nigeria's most important regional ally, was particularly hurt.
The borders were reopened on 31 December 2020 after IMF and ECOWAS pressure. Rice smuggling resumed within weeks. No measurable rise in domestic rice output occurred.
## CBN '41 Items' FX Exclusion (June 2015 – June 2023)
The Central Bank, under Godwin Emefiele, listed 41 categories (later expanded to 43) of imports as ineligible for foreign exchange at the official rate. The list included rice, palm oil, cement, tomato paste, toothpicks, private jets, second-hand clothing and steel products. The intent was to compel local production. The actual effect was to push the items onto the parallel market, where the rate ran 60–100% above the official rate — and the rent on the gap accrued to whoever could access official-rate FX. Tinubu's June 2023 FX unification dissolved the policy in a single statement.
## Twitter Ban (5 June 2021 – 13 January 2022)
After Twitter deleted a Buhari tweet that violated its terms of service (a reference to the civil war), the administration banned Twitter outright. The seven-month ban cost the economy an estimated ₦546 billion (NetBlocks). It was lifted on 13 January 2022 after Twitter accepted four conditions including the registration of a Nigerian office.
## Naira Redesign (26 October 2022 – 3 March 2023)
The CBN, days before the February 2023 presidential election, announced that ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000 notes would be redesigned and the old notes withdrawn by January 2023. The cash shortage that followed produced bank-branch violence in Ibadan, Benin, Warri and Abeokuta, queued ATMs across the country, and a Supreme Court order (3 March 2023) extending the deadline. The redesign was, in effect, abandoned. See Naira Devaluations Register.
## What the four reversals share
In every case the policy was announced suddenly, justified on developmental grounds, produced acute consumer pain, and was reversed under external pressure (court, IMF, ECOWAS, Supreme Court). In every case the F.O.O.D pattern of "protected operators capture the rent" was visible during the policy's lifetime — the border closure benefited Lagos-based rice millers; the FX-41 benefited those with access to the CBN window. See The King of F.O.O.D.