By Innocent Orok
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is breaking barriers under the strategic stakeholders engaging leadership style of Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR. In an era where most government officials/ agencies are paying deaf ears to the people’s plights, the NCS is breaking the jinx.
The NCS is a public institution that engages mostly international and local traders including manufacturers Importers, producers , international bodies and organizations among others. As such, it’s operates a people oriented/ community system. Most importantly, its core functions of policy implementation and enforcement, revenue collection, trade facilitation and anti- smuggling activities are all built around people, businesses and communities. Put it this way, without the people, the Customs cannot make any progress in its core functions.
Coupled with the fact that the NCS in its policy implementation are often faced with confrontations criticisms, attacks and even killing of its officers, especially during anti-smuggling enforcement to protect local industries and businesses .
Over the years, the Customs has been having running battles with some bordering communities bearing the burden of misplaced guilt by the public for seizing their goods, which some of their officers have paid the supreme sacrifice.
– As Apapa Customs Donates Note Books, Bags, Erasers, others to School
To mitigate this long standing frosty relationship between the NCS and the public, the regime of CGC Adewale Adeniyi in March this year launched the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Unit named CUSTOMS CARES. In his pragmatic leadership strategy, he quickly appointed a Comptroller of Customs to head the Unit, the first in the the history of the Service.
The initiative’s official launch, which marked the beginning of the Service’s long-term commitment to community empowerment, took place on Thursday, 20 March 2025, in Government Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja, where over 1,300 students benefited from the first phase of the programme.
In his opening remarks, Comptroller General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi described “Customs Cares” as a strategic response to Nigeria’s critical social, educational, and infrastructural gaps.
He said, “The Customs Cares initiative represents our comprehensive approach to CSR, designed to foster inclusive growth and create sustainable impact across Nigerian communities where we operate.”
He noted that the programme, which will be rolled out in phases, aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“This initiative is strategically aligned with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises holistic national development. Inspired by this framework, we focus on six key pillars, beginning with education.”
Speaking on the initiative’s first phase, CGC Adeniyi highlighted the NCS’s commitment to education, noting that Government Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3, was carefully selected based on historical ties and pressing infrastructural needs.
“We have prioritised education because human capital development is fundamental to national prosperity. This initiative is not just about donations but long-term commitments to sustainable development.” He emphasised.
He further announced that the initiative would be expanded across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with the adoption of one School in each Local Area Council, ensuring tailored interventions to address each institution’s needs.
“These school adoptions, including GSS Wuse Zone 3, are long-term commitments. We will continue to impact these institutions over the years, ensuring sustainable development rather than one-time interventions.” The CGC assured.
APAPA CUSTOMS CSR GIFTS TO SAGBOKOJI SCHOOL
To further trigger down the Customs Cares initiatives CSR project at the Commands level, on Wednesday 30th April, 2025, the Comptroller General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi commissioned a newly renovated Local Authority Primary School and a Primary Healthcare Centre in the Sagbokoji community, Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The project was undertaken in collaboration with the Apapa Customs Command which also donated a total of 5,000 note books, 1,000 school bags, 2,000 pens, 2,000 pencils ,1,000 rulers, 1,000 sharpeners and 1,000, anti- malaria Mosquito nets to the Sagbokoji community.
Speaking during the launch, the CGC said the Service remains committed to supporting host communities, noting that the initiative addresses both educational and infrastructural needs.
His words, “We are undertaking projects that will have direct impact on our schools and our students. We have brought school bags, exercise books, textbooks, and sandals for all the pupils of this school. We are also improving Infrastructure, where we see the deficit, and what we have chosen to do is to renovate the entire school. And I’m happy that through Apapa and the Stakeholders, we have been able to deliver on this project.”
He also emphasised the importance of healthcare to community development, which is a critical pillar of what the service is doing. “We know that the needs of this community is more than what we have done, but we have taken the first step towards entering into an enduring partnership with this community.”
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Apapa Area Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, noted that the project exemplifies the Service’s commitment to community well-being, beyond its core mandates of trade facilitation, revenue generation, and anti-smuggling.
“The benevolence from Customs shows that we have compassion for the communities where we cohabit, and this was what informed this very project. In the last four weeks, it’s been both day and night, workers have been here, with the active support of our distinguished stakeholders, to ensure that this project actually see the light of day”, Olomu stated.
In his goodwill message, Chairman of Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area, Engr. Valentine Buraimoh, expressed appreciation to the NCS, describing the gesture as unprecedented. “This is the first time we are witnessing uniform men in the helm of affairs doing this project. And today, I’m highly elated for this gesture. I want to appreciate the NCS for renovating our school and the Primary Healthcare centre.”
The headmaster of LA Primary School, Oladeyo Emmanuel, also lauded the Service for its intervention, noting that the facelift would boost the morale of teachers and students alike.
The event featured the distribution of educational materials to pupils, and culminated in the official commissioning of both the school and the healthcare facility.
With this timely strategic partnership with communities, the Customs Cares initiatives if holistically spread across the country could be another game changer that will add value to not only the communities , but national integration and nation building. Let the Customs Cares for the people and communities that are caring for them.
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