NASS reveals when customs varsity Badagry ‘ll take-off

..Era of none career officers as CG is over – Abejide

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has restated it’s commitment to the smooth and quickest take-off of the Nigeria Customs University, Badagry, Lagos state.

The House Committee Chairman, Hon. Leke Abejide, who made the revelation in Abuja last Thursday when he led members of the Committee on an oversight to Customs formations in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) Abuja, said the university will come on stream before the end of the current administration in May 2027, assured the committee will give every budgetary support for the actualization.
Given, Abejide maintained that the committee will also give the service every budgetary support for the upgrade of the Customs Command and Staff College Gwagwalada to international standard, assured also that the 11- story corporate headquarters of the Service commissioned in 2023 by former President Buhari will soon be put into use.

The Customs Command and Staff College in Gwagwalada area of the FCT is designated as a Customs regional training centre for west and central Africa by the World Customs Organisation(WCO) but the management of the college which also serves as Training and Doctrine Command for the service said the facilities are not enough to meet up the requirement.
The House Committee Chairman said they are prepared to assist the service in achieving their set target, as the new Customs Act passed by the 9th Assembly has strengthened the operations of the Customs, as well as promoting career progression in the service.

With the new Customs Act as he stated, every officer in the service can now aspire to the position of Comptroller General as the law now make compulsory for the head of the service to be appointed from among career officers unlike it was in the past.

He commended the efforts put into the construction and finishing of the headquarters of the service, however said that some modifications still need to be carried out on the facility before it is put into use.

On revenue generation ability of the FCT Command of the service, Abejide said though the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport which is the major operational area of the service in the FCT is mainly used by diplomats who are not expected to pay duties on their import, the service was able to generate about N6 billion so far.

He however commended the service for what he called correct corporate social responsibility in the area of service at the Customs Hospital, Karu which he described as the best paramilitary hospital in the country.

He said: “We should give kudos to Customs because they are doing very well. Even though I have not been to hospitals managed by other military and paramilitary agencies, I believe that they have the best hospital. In term of cost, they are doing what I called correct Corporate Social Responsibility because where they are supposed to collect N100,000 as fees, they collect N10, 000 and the hospital is so neat”.

Receiving the House Committee on behalf of the Comptroller General, the Deputy Comptroller General in charge of the Customs Training and Doctrine Command, DCG BS Bomai appealed to the Committee to fast-track the process of establishing the Customs University to offer specialized training for officers and men of the service.
Bomai said other sister agencies across the country have specialized universities for the training of their officers and other stakeholders.

He also sought the support of the committee in completing the Customs hostel to facilitate accommodation for students within the college.

Ex- CGC Dikko

Contributing, the Commandant of the Customs Command and Staff College, ACG Kingsley Egu said the college was established in 2011 by the former Comptroller General, Dikko Inde and was designed to offer professional training like what the Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji is doing for the military.