By Kelvin Kagbare

“He has to Reorganize the psyche of some officers”

The Chairman of Skelas group of companies, Prince Olayiwola Shittu has stated unequivocally that the Acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. MFR, is administratively very capable and having the capacity-mentally and physically to rejuvenate and restore professionalism in the Service.

Ag. CGC, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, NCS.

Featuring on Maritime Nigeria’s One Question with Kelvin Kagbare, Prince Shittu, a household name in Nigeria’s Maritime industry on account of his integrity, forthrightness and immense contributions to the development of the sector, was unambiguous when he said:

“The acting CGC is a round peg in a round hole. His appointment is very apt, fitting and necessary for the rejuvenation of Customs. We took a wrong turn long ago when some persons were appointed on experimental basis. We were bugged down by such persons who, after years of their appointment were still learning”.

“They graduate from learning to acquiescing to see how much they can make for themselves by toggling and joggling the issue of revenue generation for the Federal Government. Along the line we discovered that a lot of such persons hide under the guise of revenue generation for government to generate revenue for themselves”

“This has led to the decline if not death of professionalism in the Service, bringing it to its lowest ebb. Take for instance the issue of scanners in the ports. The politicization of the process, the procurement was made unnecessarily rigorous and untidy, installation was another kettle of fish while officers who were sent on training on scanners and other operational areas were not using their capacities, they became demoralized, idle and many of them may have either retired or on the verge of retiring from the Service. How has this helped the Service and port business in Nigeria?

“I can say it authoritatively that the Ag. CGC is an officer with high administrative competence and efficiency which we didn’t have in the past. This is what is needed, not going into the ports to check containers and inspect cargo. The ability to rationalize, reason and take decisions that will impact the Service is what really matters”.

On challenges before the Ag. CGC, Prince Shittu was direct:

“One major challenge is that he has to reorganize the psyche of officers who believe they are in Customs to just make money overnight. We shall work with him to expose such officers so that he can hold them by the jugular and return Customs to the enviable profession that it used to be”

Maritime Nigeria recalls that the appointment of the Acting CG, Adewale Adeniyi was announced on Monday,  June 19, 2023, while he was attending the Policy Commission and Council meetings of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) in Brussels, Belgium.

National Public Relations Officer, NPRO, of the Service, Chief Superintendent of Customs Abdullahi Maiwada while speaking on the appointment of the Ag. CGC said   “Under the leadership of the Acting CG, the Nigeria Customs Service is embarking on an exciting journey towards enhanced customs efficiency which which shall be achieved through international collaborations, engagement with the WCO, exploration of AI-driven solutions and strategic discussions. The NCS is pioneering innovative projects that will shape the future of customs practices in Nigeria”.

The Ag. CGC with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu during a meeting on border security.

The Acting Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, is responsible for the overall management and direction of the Service. He is the chief Accounting officer of  Customs and Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Customs Service Board, which is chaired by the Honorable Minister of Finance.

Stakeholders are excited and expectant as they await pronouncements by the Ag. CGC