NIGERIAN: The new comptroller-general of Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Hameed Ali, has been charged to step up the trade facilitation operations of the service, rather than its present emphasis on revenue generation.
Boosting trade facilitation is said to be the surest way the new leadership support the developmental agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration aimed at attracting new investments into the economy, as well as generate for the army of unemployed Nigerians.
The call is coming on the heels of the assumption of office by the new comptroller general, at Customs House in Abuja, which marks the beginning of his regime as the head of the agency. Hameed Ali, a retired military administrator, was appointed two weeks ago by President Buhari with the mandate to reform the agency, as well as boost it revenue-earning capability.
However, Osita Aniemeka, who is a fulltime faculty staff of the Department of Mass Communication, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) University, Lapai, Niger State, want the new Customs boss to prioritise the trade facilitation role of the agency.
Speaking exclusively with BusinessDay on the sideline of a one-day workshop on media relations organised for some selected journalists in Kano by Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for a Better Business Environment (ENABLE), in collaboration with Kano Business Advocacy Coalition (KABAC), Aniemeka said that boosting trade facilitation would go a long way in assisting the Federal Government to achieve its economic development goals.
“For too long, government agencies, such as the NCS, have been operating on the philosophy that their main role is that of revenue generation for the Nigerian government.
“I believe this mentality must change under this new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Customs as an institution must understand that its role is primarily that of trade facilitation, more than just being a revenue collector.
“The fact is when the Agency prioritised this responsibility that is when more foreign investment will come into the country, and when this is done, it will translate into more business activities and new employment opportunities for the citizenry.
“Looking at the present focus of the Agency, you discover emphasis is on collecting customs duties, and taxes from existing companies, and little is being done to encourage new foreign businesses to come and set up in country. What we have at hand is just like this analogy of growing a tree, rather than focus on seeing that forest of trees are grown,” Aniemeka said. Meanwhile, in a maiden meeting with the management, the CG restated his mandate to undertake reforms and re-structuring to enhance the capacity of the service.
He charged the management to work with him to deliver on the mandate given by the president, saying, “the mandate he has given me are three basic things: go to Customs, reform Customs, restructure Customs and increase the revenue generation, simple.
“I don’t think that is ambiguous, I don’t think that is cumbersome. It is precise and I believe that is what all of you are here to do.”
A statement from Wale Adeniyi, NCS public relations officer, said Ali pleaded with the management not to see him as a stranger in the Customs family, noting that his mission in Customs was to help build and strengthen the Service. He solicited the support and loyalty of all officers and men in his collective approach to make the NCS a better Service.
Earlier, John Atte, deputy comptroller general covering duties for CGC, while handing over gave him a brief history of the Service and assured of the officers’ loyalty to work towards suppression of smuggling, increased revenue collection, facilitation, among others, in the interest of the nation.
