Recently, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) promoted and decorated large numbers of its deserving officers, of those promoted, four distinctive officers stand out due to the obvious impacts of their contributions to the prosperity of the nation state
By Innocent Chukwu
At present they represent the finest of the retinue of vibrant new generation of Customs officers. To put it succinctly, these iconic Customs legends are regarded as the best among equals.
Their types, though, are not in short supply in the rebranded Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) since they were first injected into the paramilitary parastatal from 2009 upwards.
Thus, they aptly portray the excellent breed of the repackaged, modernized Customs Service.
Significantly, the current Customs management under the guardianship of His Eminence Adewale Adeniyi, possesses a unique trait in identifying the best gifted of its staff, and how to place them in key and sensitive positions for optimum capacity utilisation.
It is a little wonder why these symbols of ebullience and devotion are positioned strategically in the offices, Units and Departments where they are earnestly accomplishing the core Customs three-pronged traditional mandates of Trade Facilitation, Revenue Generation and Security concerns of the nation via the detection of all kinds of illicit imports and trade malpractices.
Again, these illustrious officers, from the outset, had resolved to shy away from public attention, especially in the media, due to the sensitive nature of their assignments and Units under their watch. But it took the prying eyes of the medium rooted in the slogan, ”Reaching for the Facts”, to track these proverbial golden fishes to their ‘places of hiding’ from where they are churning out professional Customs wonders that are enriching the Nigerian state.
Newly promoted and decorated Deputy Comptrollers (DCs)of Customs NI Miko, OO Afeni, UU Adamu and AO Oguntuase are all gifted with sharp, vibrant brains and leadership potential. They are reputable, ceremonious, scholarly, patriotic, and incredibly humble in appearance and deeds.
In service delivery their wizardry is magnificent. Consequently, they are viewed, even by their betters and critical supporting allies as the exceptional, iconic and distinctive firebrand professionals of the NCS in the 21st century who can place Nigeria at the centre stage in global Customs affairs.
For example, DC Miko underwent tutelage in the bossom of two eminent officers, now retired, who refined him through the crucible to discover his natural endowment. These were Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) Yusuf Mallanta (rtd) and Comptroller AG Bello (rtd). Both revenue officers in their rights nurtured the young Miko into revenue generation expertise such that today, he is able to sniff where revenues are hidden and be able to suck them out effortlessly.
Occupying the office of the DC Revenue in the Apapa Area Command, supervising the Command’s Central (Customs) Processing Unit (CPC), Miko and his team are ably responsible for the recovery of huge revenues that would have been lost unnoticed.
The CPC has a large chunk of contribution in the generation of the N20.1 billion which the Command achieved penultimate week under its new Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Oshoba. The CPC represents the revenue engine room for the Command.
Superintending over the Compliance Seat at the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, at Ikeja Lagos, DC Afeni is known for his sagacity, and witty approach to discharging his duties. As the O/C Compliance, the FOU Command has no qualms in compelling errant business people to do the right thing in terms of duty evasion and such other trade malpractices.
All underpayments and short payments, whether deliberate, or inadvertently done, must be subjected to thorough scrutiny by DC Afeni and his team in order to avoid loss of revenue on the part of the Federal Government.
Although the FOU Command is not a core revenue generating Unit, its fear remains the wisdom of every unscrupulous trader and smuggler because it would not hesitate in apprehending trading lawbreakers and security risks who attempt to smuggle banned and dangerous items into the country. That is how strategic Afeni’s job is- ensuring that no kobo belonging to the public purse is lost.
Afeni was a terror to smugglers when he was the O/C Operations under the Customs Comptroller General’s (CGC’s) Strike Force Team. The team had since been disbanded due to duplication of duties. But in those days, Afeni’s team could intercept and arrest die-hard smugglers with precision, a trait that sent numerous smugglers out of business.
Deputy Comptroller Adamu is a no-nonsense intelligence czar. Knowledgeable, calm and soft spoken, Adamu radiates the aura of a dependable secret police of the NCS.
The appearance of Adamu and his carriage are reminiscent of the best secret police of the century, and the work of his team in busting smuggling syndicates at the Apapa Premier Port Command attests to this description.
Adamu possesses capacity, experience with a high level expertise in secret policing. He is currently the Team Manager of the Apapa Command Intelligence Unit (CIU).
His team has remained instrumental to the high-profile seizures of different harmful and unlawful imports recorded at the Apapa Area 1 Command in the recent times. These included, but not limited to the 26 containers of illicit items seized in one fell swoop early in the year, and another 16 illicit containers also intercepted in one fell swoop last month under Dr Babatunde Olomu as the Area Controller which the Comptroller General himself, Adeniyi came to showcase to the public. Olomu has since been lifted to the rank of Assistant Comptroller General (ACG).
The gentle but strategist, DC Oguntuase, is a smooth operator. Soft on the outside, rugged on the inside, Oguntuase is the current DC Enforcement at the FOU Zone A, Lagos. He is as unassuming as he is tough in mapping out strategies with which the Command operations are conquering smuggling syndicates in the South west region.
Oguntuase is a loyal subordinate who earned the confidence of all the CACs he has served under since he became the DC Enforcement. For example, when he was the CAC of the FOU Zone A, now ACG Kola Oladeji had submitted that Oguntuase would go far in the job because of his unalloyed loyalty and dedication to duty. Young, energetic and focused, DC Oguntuase is goal-oriented, a trait that is helping the Command to keep succeeding in decimating smuggling activities in the zone.
