Operation Show your Certificate: Apprehension in Customs… by Eguono Odjegba
….As Customs officers speak in discordant tunes
Palpable anxiety and confusion has enveloped the Nigeria Customs Service following recent directive by the management that personnel in the Assistant Comptroller and Deputy Comptroller cadre should within a week, avail the lead office their enlistment entry qualifications.
Majority of those affected by this directive have expressed divergent views while united in grief that the purported screening exercise is in bad faith, designed to achieve political end. The circular sighted by our reporter directed the affected rank to route their correspondence through their respective area commanders. Majority of those who spoke to our reporter off record fear that the exercise may be an extension of the de-ranking policy, which allegedly came to the fore after the customs coup of 2004.
The grieving officers have appealed to the new Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.), not to accede to recommendation to punish officers who elected to upgrade themselves educationally in order to broaden their skills to be able to serve their fatherland in a more proficient manner.
This is even as others urge the CGC to remain apolitical, be very circumspective in the present matter, and not throw away the bathwater with the baby. They argue that officers who got approvals to embark on further study should not be part of a controversial sweeping process that pegs career progression to specified level beyond which officers cannot aspire or attain, on the ground of an obnoxious policy.
The new directive for all ACs and DCs to send their entry qualification was contained in a circular signed by Deputy Comptroller General Austine Warikoru, ACG Human Resources Development on behalf of the CGC.
Those criticizing the directive and previous implementation of the de-ranking measure say it is administratively and legally unacceptable. They blame the emergence of politically exposed and ambitious officers who schemed their way into the service leadership in the wake of the 2004 Customs Coup, as those who promoted the ongoing policy thrust, which many described as unfair, backward and a major disservice to nation building. In a consensus, the affected cadre vowed to use every legal means at their disposal to resist the continuation of this preposterous witch trial from a clique of management staff who were part and parcel of the last repressive and oppressive regime, all in a bid to cling to power.
“We have reasons to believe that this thing (entry qualification screening) is an agenda aimed to de-rank officers. This move is going to destroy the entire system and image of the service as booth of cheap political experiment. Let me tell you, when this thing sparks negative reaction and officers revolt, our image as a country will be at stake” he said, adding:
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“For me, management should present an option where those who went for further studies based on approval are allowed to clear themselves. I know that what is happening in the customs service will not happen in NNPC, NPA, CBN, and in the civil service of which customs is a part. Unfortunately, the customs service is always a subject of wicked experiment. Will government try what it is doing in customs service in the public service?”, he asked.
Another source who spoke on condition of anonymity asked, “Will the Police Force or Commission de-rank an Assistant Commissioner of Police to a Sergeant or will the Army de-rank a Colonel who was duly promoted to the rank of a Corporal on grounds of not having a degree or acquiring one after his enlistment? Is it proper that customs officers who have sacrificed so much to serve this country, and has undergone promotion exams before being promoted and gazetted, have their promotions cancelled without committing any crime and asked to revert to their entry qualifications?
“I think the issue of arbitrary de-ranking is an insult to national service. When Col. Ali visited the commands and talked about reviewing the customs promotion scam, we heaved sign of relief, little did we know that the lawlessness would continue”.
But another serving senior officer who spoke off record absolved Ali of any wrong doing, explaining that the scheme of service of the customs is an entrenched order which has created ladder for career progression.
He said, “If you enlisted in the customs service with School Certificate, OND or HND, statutorily, you cannot rise beyond Inspector rank. If you transfer your service like it was done in the 1980s, the same policy applies, except that you secured approval to further your education. In this case, you will be upgraded as soon as you completed your degree education or participated in a promotion examination. In the army, if you pass through NDA, you are promoted one rank, but if you enlisted as a degree holder, you are promoted two rank after your mandatory training at NDA”.
“What is happening is a bit upsetting but unless the scheme of service structure is repealed, this will continue to recur. I know that the legal challenge in this exercise is enormous. One, is the management going to issue a de-ranked AC or Dc new letter of employment to erase the fact that he was never an AC or DC? Having promoted somebody an officer, you cannot demote him unless he has committed an offence”.
When contacted, the Deputy National Public Relations Officer of the Customs, Assistant Comptroller Joseph, Attah said the directive is part of a routine verification exercise, dismissing any misgivings attached to the circular.
“It is a routine verification exercise. It is not new to the system, you may recall that in the past four years or so, there has regular verification exercises, this is not different”, Attah said.
Questioned further why the directed was restricted to ACs and DCs, the deputy national PRO said he is not in the position to know why management zeroed the exercise to the above cadre and concluded that affected officers have no reason to be jittery.