Customs Service Calls For Joint Efforts To Boost Nigeria’s Economy

Nigeria Customs Service says making bigger economic prosperity for a greater number of the citizens requires participation of state and non state actors.

Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi made the declaration on Thursday at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos State Southwest Nigeria.

Delivering his lecture as a guest speaker at the institute’s distinguished lecture series, titled: “Nigeria’s Economic Growth and Development: Reforming and Positioning the Nigeria Customs Services for the African Continental Free Trade Area and other Emerging Challenges,” Adeniyi said that Nigerians should accept that there are golden opportunities for them.

The Customs helmsman who noted that although Nigerians are starting late, admonished Nigerians to leverage the opportunity and get it right.

He stated that “the country’s readiness also requires getting all the operators in AfCFTA sufficiently aware of what is going on.”

Adeniyi further said that, “We also need to do a lot of sensitisation so that they will be aware. Of course, that does not take anything away from the importance of building the capacity of the Customs. There is a widespread of ignorance amongst the AfCFTA operators.”

He emphasised the importance of capacity building of the Customs personnel as well as innovation initiative his leadership had been able to initiate that would help enhance trade facilitation.

According to him, “the officers who will implement AfCFTA have a completely different set of Customs procedures that they would regulate. It is important that they know about rules of origin. We are working with our partners to ensure that we build our capacity.”

He said; “There is so much pressure on us to generate revenue. We need revenue for economic development, we need it to pay the debts we owe,” among others while urging the nation to manage her expectations in revenue.

“The Nigerian Government is doing all it can through the various agencies to provide impetus for industrial development,” he added.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Prof. Osaghe Osaghae stated that the institute was establishing a nexus with the Nigeria Customs Service, adding that the institute would make the lecture series an annual event.

Prof. Osaghae noted that part of the institute mandate was to see how to strengthen the capacity and foundation of the service to better deliver on its mandate to provide leadership in customs duties.

He said; “the NIIA would henceforth, have an endowment of a Bashir Adewale Adeniyi centre for international trade and investment.”

Highlight of the event was the conferment of the distinguished fellow of NIIA on Comptroller Adewale Adeniyi.