President Muhammadu Buhari lauds the leadership qualities of the Customs Comptroller General, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) at the recent commissioning of the Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) state-of-the-art Customs Administrative headquarters completed under the leadership of Ali
By Udoka Ekeleme, Abuja
Tuesday, May 23, 2023, will remain a memorable day in the history of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the biography of its incumbent Comptroller-General Col. Hameed Ali. It was the day when President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the recently completed sprawling edifice called the Nigeria Customs Service Administrative headquarters located in the Maitama area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
At the formal commissioning of the sprawling edifice President Muhammadu Buhari, had insisted that his 2019 closure of the country’s land borders was due to his administration’s conscious efforts to encourage Nigerians to eat what they produce locally, particularly the rice commodity.
Buhari claimed that the border closure was appreciated by Nigerians-apparently due to the revolution in local rice production. According to him, the mass production of rice during the period of border closure, was helped by the positive impact of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) which provided unprecedented financing to smallholder farmers.
The president also said given the large expanse of Nigeria’s land borders, only God can effectively guard the borders, thus, an allusion to the challenges posed by smugglers across the seemingly porous borders.
Buhari said, “Please note that from Lake Chad to Benin Republic is more than 1,600 kilometres, only God can effectively guard the borders.
“So, you need a person who has the energy and the competence to supervise. I deliberately closed the borders because knowing Nigerians, they order rice, give some to Niger and the rest, and then they bring the rice here.
With our potential, we have people, we have land and weather-how many nations are as lucky as Nigeria in the world, very few.
“So, closing that border, 1,600 kilometres, Nigerians insist they eat boiled rice-you eat what you grow or you die. I tried to make my point and later Nigerians appreciated it.”
However, Buhari before cutting the ribbon to officially inaugurate the N19.6 billion customs building praised the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd), for his stewardship at the service.
Buhari said despite the opposition that trailed Ali’s appointment at that time, he had confidence in the latter and insisted he took charge of the service, noting that Ali’s performance had vindicated his choice.
Buhari said he closed the borders deliberately to check rice smuggling from neighbouring countries – a situation which grossly undermined Nigeria’s food security agenda.
The president chronicled how Abacha gave tough tasks to Ali when the latter served as military administrator of Kaduna State in the regime of the late dictator.
He said Abacha entrusted Ali to execute major tasks, adding that this was why he also chose the retired army colonel for the important task of restructuring and revamping customs operations as well as raising revenue for the country through import duties
According to Buhari, “As for Hameed Ali, I asked him to be in charge of customs. No matter what people say about the late Sani Abacha, may his soul rest in peace.
“I knew him very well when somehow, he became president of this country, Head of State, the biggest problematic area was around Kaduna.
“He picked Col Hameed Ali and dumped the problems on him. My decision for Hameed Ali to come to customs was a deliberate one. I brought Col Hameed Ali to ensure that I have peace of mind”.
In his welcome address, the customs CG, Ali said the building complex would serve as a boost to the men and officers of the service to put in their best in the achievement of the objectives of guarding the borders, generating higher revenues and also improving the facilitation of trade.
Ali also thanked Buhari for approving an increase in the salaries of customs officers and men, noting that this had made them less susceptible to corruption.
For Ali,, “We must mention the game-changing intervention of Mr President to rid the NCS of corruption and put it on a path of integrity.
“The 100 per cent increase in the remuneration for officers and men of the service decisively made them less susceptible to corruption.”
Ali said when he was appointed with the mandate to restructure reform and increase revenue for customs, he was never in doubt that only a comfortable and suiting working environment can facilitate the achievement of those objectives.
Meanwhile, the Board of the NCS had confirmed the appointment of five Deputy Comptrollers General (DCGs) and 15 Assistant Comptrollers General (ACGs).
This confirmation was made at the 57th regular meeting of Customs Board held on May 4, 2023 and chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, May 19, 2023, the National Public Relations Officer (NPRO) of the NCS, Abdulahi Maiwada listed the newly confirmed DCGs as M. Abba-Kura who heads the service’s Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation; A.G. Saidu in charge of Human Resource Development, J.P. Ajoku for Excise, Free Trade Zone and Industrial Incentives, B.A. Adeniyi heads Strategic Research and Policy and G.A. Itotoh in charge of Training and Doctrine Command.
The new Assistant Comptrollers Generals are O. Peters, Coordinator, Zone C, A.I. Alfa, Strategic Research and Policy, H.J. Swomen, Excise, Free Trade Zone and Industrial Incentives, K.C. Egwuh, Doctrine Development and Administration Command, M.B.A Musa, Tariff and Trade, A. Dappa-Williams, Enforcement Inspection and Investigation, B.M. Jibo, ACG Headquarters and A. Hamisu, Customs Command and Staff College.
Other ACGs are, Y. Salihu, Finance and Administration, M.I. Yusuf, Training and Coordination, S.A. Bomai, Customs Board, C.K. Niagwan, Technical Services, K.I. Adeola, ICT/Modernisation, I.O. Babalola, Coordinator, Zone D and B.U. Nwafor, Human Resource Development.
