Precisely 11 days after he took the mantle of leadership as the Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Dera Nnadi begins to unleash ingenuity and wizardry in customs operations at the Tincan Island Port Customs Command, traits he dutifully deploys to achieve unmatched wonders wherever he serves as Area Controller
By Innocent Chukwu
Specifically, the name, Dera Nnadi in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) circle evokes national security, trade facilitation and revenue. Like him or hate him, still he remains that indefatigable workaholic who plies his officially assigned tasks with high sense of simplicity.
His admirers and close associates reinforce the argument that in customs operations, Nnadi resonates that enterprising philosophy of the average South Easterner which core revolves around achieving results in every endeavor with a measure of ease an excellence that is hard to copy or match.
Consequently, barely two weeks (exactly 11 days) after he assumed office as the Customs Area Controller (CAC) at the Tincan Island Port Customs Command, Nnadi has begun to do what he knows how best to do –turning revenue generation at Tincan Port Customs to a masterpiece.
In a quick flash back, Comptroller Nnadi has been reputed as a high performance customs chief with proved diary of evidences. Those proved evidence of performance in other related commands is what officers at Tincan customs are telling critical supporting allies of the customs at Tincan Port that Nnadi has come to replicate and fine tune. Notably, around mid-October 2021, Nnadi took over the mantle of leadership as Ogun 1 Command CAC, Ogun State, South west Zone. At the time, the command was witnessing a volatility occasioned by the incessant brawls between border communities and anti-smuggling patrol customs officers who sought to arrest smuggling activities around the border posts under the purview of the Command.
In less than one month after Nnadi resumed at Ogun 1 Command, there was a repeat of the ugly brawl: two youthful customs personnel were hacked to death in a brutal attack that left the command in despair.
Nnadi is not giving to self -pity and victimhood. He took a drastic step that would ensure that the command would never witness such ugly incidence again, not only during his brief sojourn to the command, but even after he had left the command. The result of that positive move is being enjoyed by his successors till date.
How did it happen? Nnadi had, promptly, taken a peaceful “protest” of sorts to the doorsteps of the traditional rulers of the border communities being policed by the command he led.
In a dignified appeal, Comptroller Nnadi had urged the traditional rulers of those communities, including those of Yewaland and Abeokuta to intervene in the incessant attacks by community dwellers on customs officers.
At the palace of the Olu of Ilaro, the paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, where he addressed the Yewa Traditional Council, Nnadi sought and pleaded for symbiotic relationship between customs officers at the Command and their critical stakeholders in the community.
While he assured the Council that he would ensure that the officers under his watch engaged the best rules of engagement to nip the ugly trend in the bud, he also reminded the Council that both customs and their host communities in the state could always address misunderstandings that arose in the course of enforcing Federal Government policies on trade and investment amicably without resorting to violence against either party.
Similarly, at the palace of the Agura of Gbagura, Abeokuta Oba Sabur Babajide Bakare who is a retired senior customs officer, Nnadi maintained that the Command under his leadership had no intention to militarize the state in the process of fighting smuggling, but reiterated that his visit was to cement a mutual relationship with, and cooperation of the traditional rulers in order to reduce the challenges of smuggling activities against national economy.
Nnadi said, “People call Ogun a war zone, I want us to change that narrative about how people see us. They call Yewa the war zone, the zone for smugglers and I want us to change the narrative. I don’t want people to continue to see Ogun, and Yewa in particular, as war zone.
“These smugglers attack officers of the Nigeria Customs Service, this is highly condemnable. Recently, two of our officers were murdered in Yewa in cold blood. This is unacceptable, we want to stop it.
“Why are we allowing the younger generation to destroy our historical values? We must let people know who we are because we generate a lot of revenue for the government. Please help us to stop these attacks on our officers.
“As our traditional rulers, please sensitize your subjects on the dangers of smuggling. From time immemorial Yewa people are known to be peace loving, accommodating and law abiding; what has changed?
That visit was the magic wand with which Nnadi doused the tension between customs officers and border communities under the Ogun 1 Command. That move ostensibly endeared customs in Ogun State to the hearts of the border community dwellers. Thus, Ogun Customs Commands are still enjoying peace without noticeable violence against officers.
Upon his rare performance at Ogun 1 Command, Nnadi was nominated to undergo a leadership course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at Kuru, Plateau State in February 2022.
In January 2023 Comptroller Nnadi was deployed to the Seme Border Area Command where the command under his leadership made an eye popping seizure of Six Million fake US Dollars and other smuggled items.
At the event of showcasing the fake dollar bills, Comptroller Nnadi had said, “Some of the anti smuggling landmarks by the command include the seizure of fake Six Million Dollars equivalent of N2.763 billion, and the arrest of two suspects conveying the fake currency from Nigeria to the Republic of Benin.
“Two male suspects were arrested in connection with the crime and are currently in our custody pending prosecution. The arrest was made at Gbaji checkpoint along the Seme corridor on January 31, 2023”.
The command also showcased other seizures alongside the dollar bills which included 1,300/30 litres Jerry can of petrol equivalent of 39,000 litres with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N9,366,350, there were 55 sacks of 550 pieces of donkey skin with DPV of N11,371,511.
In May 2023, the Seme Border Customs under Nnadi recorded yet another spectacular seizure of unregistered and expired pharmaceutical products worth N27.9 million. Comptroller Nnadi said the drugs were discovered in a truck with registration number GL6663GH which belonged to a conglomerate operating in the country. The products include Morphine Sulphate 100ml×76 bottles, Amodiaquine Suspension 60ml×94 bottles, Vermont 500mg×2,970 packages, 553 parcels of Cannabis Sativa which was handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
In early September 2023, Comptroller Nnadi was redeployed to the Tincan Island Port Customs Command as the CAC . Before he resumed at the command he made known his score card at the Seme Border Area Command which included a revenue of N1.9 billion from January to September 2023. The total revenue of N1,904,459,399.77 made by the Seme Border Area Command in nine months represents 97.2 percent of the N1.960 billion allocated to the command as its revenue target for the year 2023. It is instructive to note that the Seme Border Area Command under Nnadi almost attained its 2023 revenue target within nine months.
Here at Tincan customs, Nnadi had within his first 11 days in office attained a record monthly revenue of N5.2 billion for the month of September even though he resumed duty after the middle of the month.
A statement by the Tincan Island Port Customs Command Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ngozi Okwara, a Superintendent of Customs, stated that by that revenue record the Command has been able to achieve only 52 percent of its revenue for the year 2023. But the PRO added that the N5.2 billion revenue indicated a 120 billion increase from the Command’s monthly revenue collection record. According to Okwara, Comptroller Nnadi had also promised that the command would attain its revenue target before the end of the year.
“Precisely 11 working days after his resumption, a commendable milestone was achieved, command surpassed its monthly target by 120 percent”, the statement read in part.
