Issues
Nigerian Customs:Setting New Agenda?
Getting Imported Goods Into The country through our ports on time has been a major worry for importers for as long as one can remember, no thanks to the bureaucratic bottlenecks put in their path by the various government agencies operating at Nigeria’s ports.
Not a few Nigerians are quick to lay the blame for the delay at the feet of the Nigerian Customs Service even when the facts on ground do not support their position. It’s a mindset problem as most of them would instinctively blame the Customs for any delay in clearance of goods even without seeing or listening to the fact of the matter.
And to arrest the situation, a number of measures have been put in place by successive Comptroller-General of Customs but with limited success. However, the coming on board of Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Nde, MFR, OFR as the Comptroller-General in August 2009 has changed things for the better for Customs especially in terms of service delivery and public perception. .
Top of the bill of his re-branding effort for the Service so to speak, is the planned 48-hour clearance of goods at the ports which surely would gladden the hearts of importers.
At an interactive session with Business Editors of the leading Nigerian newspapers sometime in April 2011, the comptroller-general of the customs had amongst other illuminations, revealed that nothing favours the Nigerian economy primarily, and the officers and men of the service especially, more than the possibilities 48 hour cargo clearance presents. In the words of Dikko “What a lot of stakeholders on the imports and clearing of cargo in Nigeria do not fully realise is that, it is indeed in the best interest of customs officials for the 48 hours cargo clearance time frame to work.
“We will even be happier if we can do it in 24 hours because it simply means higher remuneration for us. The more cargo we are able to release in 48 hours or even less, the higher our take home is likely to be”.
He is equally breaking new grounds in the area of re-orientation, training and retraining of Customs officers and men towards an improved service delivery.
When the mantle of headship of Nigeria’s second largest revenue earner fell on the seeming fragile shoulders of Alhaji Dikko, not many Nigerians gave him a passing chance at making a success of the challenge he was to take on as the comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service. One year and ten months down the line, Dikko has demonstrated an amazing capability to engineer multi faceted turn – around initiatives that is a sure source of worry and deep seated anxiety and conceit for segment of arm-chair critics who see themselves as the permanent rent seeker of the Nigerian Customs Service.
Not at any other time in the history of customs had there been such level of frenetic activities in the core areas of operation of the service. Presently, no fewer than forty three personnel of the service, saddled primarily with the duty of creating and sustaining a positive and upwardly inclined public perception index for the service are undergoing intensive public relations refresher course in Nigeria. They are going through this exercise for the second time in less than four years!
The CGC had also made it known at various times that today’s customs official can hold his head as quite a lot is expended on trainings and human capacity development. At the last count, no cadre of the service clerks/typists through valuation, intelligence, information communication technology, AYSCUDA etc, anti terrorism, international trade facilitation, leadership and management, e.t.c., that has not undergone specialization courses in the last twenty-two months.
The basis for efficient service delivery is training, provision of conducive work environment and motivation. The customs CGC seemed to have spent useful time prior to his appointment to fashion out a seamless training sequence and module for each area of operation of the customs. One must quickly commend the CGC for his unflinching commitment to the implementation of his six-point agenda for turning the service around. All of these in the face of (sometimes) quite absurd allegations and baseless criticisms.
A solid pointer to the level of commitment of some of the highly motivated operatives the CGC had appointed to man key commands of the service is inherent in the records of these commands. In the months of January to June 2010, the federal operations unit zone ‘A’ Lagos, recorded a total seizure of about one thousand and seventy prohibited items with a total duty paid value of about Nl.l billion. However, with the appointment of Deputy Controller V.D Dimka as head of the command, FOU zone’ A’ has performed even much better. The DC realizing that “to whom much is given, much is expected,” swung into action with a dizzying zeal and singular objective to stamp out smuggling completely. Between December 2010 and Friday June 10th 2011, the command, under his watch made an astounding nine convictions in one thousand six hundred and fifty nine seizures. When computed, the total duty paid value of these seizures stood at about 1.5 billion naira.
If the achievements of D. Dimka and his men appear breathtaking, the CGC is leaving no stone unturned in providing adequate work environment and tools of work. Towards this end, ten brand new patrol vans have just been added to the fleet to enhance effective policing of the areas of coverage of the zone which span Ogun, Oyo, and Lagos States.
The extensive areas of coverage of officers and men of Zone’ A’ FOU, is reason why it is unfortunate when spurious and quite elementary insinuations are bundled around to create the impression that federal operations unit Zone’ A’ is only at the “ports where they tend to pick up containers already released from the Port” for a federal operations unit whose oversight functions transcends the Nigerian Ports of Apapa and Tincan Island, and whose nominal roll of officers and men are in excess of eight hundred, it is indeed quite misleading to create erroneous notions of over saturation of men of the unit at the ports.
Richard Oteri, another Deputy Comptroller of Customs, is the acting Area Comptroller for Ogun State. He assumed duties around February 2011 at the command. In a space of four months, not only has the revenue profile of Ogun command of the Nigerian Customs Service shot up by over 370% when compared with the same time period in 2010, the enforcement activities as led by this completely well rounded customs man have forced even dare devil die hard smugglers that used to litter that horizon of the Ogun Command to finally realize that it is no longer business as usual.
It was an elated Oteri who excitedly informed close allies recently of the unheard of “over one hundred and fifty vehicle duty certification” issued by his command to operators who voluntarily came forward to declare their vehicles and present the documents of same for duty processing. “Our brothers who clear vehicles here are finally beginning to see the light, imagine that in only one week here, we have issued duty certificates for over a hundred and fifty vehicles”. He said.
At the Tincan Island Customs Command, the out-going customs comptroller, Austen Warikoru had in the last 365 days plus, written his name in gold in the history of the command. From a very turbulent beginning as CAC, Warikoru in the face of harrowing oppositions from operations who would rather “do business as usual” painstakingly identified, and went on to plug nearly every area of revenue leakage in the nations (even west coast’s) second busiest port. This instantly pitched him against “established forces of Tincan”. But undeterred, Warikoru took the revenue profile of Tincan Island from a monthly average of 11 billion Naira, first to 14 billion and ultimately to the present nearly 16 billion monthly.
A cursory perusal of activities across all of the four zones and forty three command structure of the Service presently reflects a quantum leap in service delivery. Alhaji Dikko had made it known to all his men that it is time to “Sit it up and perform or ship out”. As an administrator the CGC is making a very eloquent statement about his mission and vision for the Nigerian Customs Service.
In his words “The whole essence of the massive training programmes and attitudinal re- orientation of the officers and men of the Nigerian custom is to have a world class service, peopled by men of high personal and professional integrity imbued with the core values of best practices. We have set an unusually high moral and professional grounds for ourselves, we have requested for and have been granted a wide latitude by the federal government, I intend to deliver with a view to justifying the confidence reposed in our capabilities by the president, Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces”. Happy days are indeed here at last.
Yomi Olomofe wrote from Lagos.
Yomi Olamofe
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
