By Kenneth Jukpor
Assistant Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Zonal Coordinator, Zone A, ACG Modupe Aremu, has encouraged newly decorated officers at the Zone to prioritize national security and building the nation’s economy via commitment to anti-smuggling activities.
The Zonal Coordinator, Aremu, who was speaking during the decoration ceremony at the Zone A headquarters yesterday, urged the newly promoted officers to rededicate themselves and step up to their new responsibilities as more challenges are bound to come with higher ranks.
According to the Zonal Coordinator, the recent recruitment of officers into the Service and subsequent promotions, better positions the Service to discharge its duty of policing the nation’s vast borders and revenue collection.
She, however, expressed optimism that beyond the increase in officers, the introduction of e-Customs will see technology strategically deployed to enhance the operations of the service, noting that drones will also be utilized for surveillance at border regions.
Her words: “To whom much is given, much is expected. For the new ranks and levels, there are new responsibilities. They should be able to carry the service going forward. Meanwhile, for those who were not promoted, examinations are coming up very soon, and I will enjoin them to prepare well for the next one so they can get elevated.”
Over 150 officers were decorated at the Zone by ACG Modupe Aremu as the promoted officers included; Controllers, Deputy Controllers, Assistant Controllers, and Chief Superintendent of Customs.
The highpoint of the event was the decoration of the Zonal Public Relations Officer, Nkiru Nwala who was decorated with a new rank of Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC), a feat she said will spur her to do more for the service.
Zonal PRO, Nwala promised that the newly promoted officers will give their all to the service even as she commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hammed Ali (Rtd) and his management team for entrusting the newly decorated officers with more responsibilities.
“The Service has trusted us. It has given us a platform, a privilege, and an exalted position to give hope, and I am assuring the customs management that all of us from 2009 upwards will not disappoint. I promise that they will look back upon retirement and be proud of us.”
“This decoration is going to be a booster to our existing mandate. In the context of anti smuggling, we’re only going to be suppressing smuggling, as it is done globally, not eradication. This is a step in the right direction because we now have more officers, and those that are here are motivated to do more, so we’re expecting better results,” she said.
Speaking on her role as Zonal PRO, she assured that the PROs will continue to improve on information management and dissemination to the general public.
“We’re going to build on what we have already. We have our established platforms like the NCBN and robust relationship with journalists. We will keep building on the existing relationship between us and every other platform that we need to continually engage the public, and our stakeholders,” she added.
