....As Customs Area 11 Command Onne, Commissions Training and Conference Centers

The Zonal Coordinator, Zone C Customs headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Asst Comptroller General of Customs, (ACG) Olugboyega Peters has described the Comptroller General of Customs Col, Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) as genius, upright and a disciplinarian to the core whose innovations have transformed the Nigeria Customs Service as one of the organized and well managed agency in Nigeria.

Speaking to journalists, Tuesday at the Customs Area 11 command Onne Rivers state, on the sideline of the commissioning ceremony of a 40 capacity training centre and a 110 capacity conference hall embarked upon by the Command's Area Controller, Comptroller Baba Imam and some stakeholders, AGC Peters stated that the commissioning was as a result of innovation, capacity building and transparency which the Comptroller General of Customs Col, Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) has brought into the Nigeria Customs Service for the 8 years he has been on the saddle of leadership of NCS.

Speaking further, he said, "Initially when he took over the leadership of the Service, a lot of us were skeptical as he was seen as a foreigner owing to his military background. But today, from the Customs Commands and Staff training school, Gwagwalada where we train and retrain officers and men of the service,to improved welfare packages, promotion and a conducive working environment, one can say the the CGC and his management team has transformed the Nigeria Customs Service which can excel among the comity of nations."

ACG Peters who represented the Comptroller General of Customs Col Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retd)and was recently transferred from Zone D, Bauchi customs command to Zone C, Port Harcourt, a pioneer Lecturer at the Customs Command and Staff school Gwagwalada where he lectured Tariff, classification and valuation noted the CGC has raised the level of transparency to the highest insisting that time has gone when customs officers were blackmailed for doing a good job.

On the commissioning of the Training Centre and a conference Hall within a short period of time of Comptroller Baba Imam's assumption of office at the Command, he said, "every man is guilty for not doing what he supposed to do"

He went further to describe what he has seen as an excellent job of Comptroller Imam at a very short period of time.

Adding that " He has seen it, thought about it and has done it."

He however stated that the commissioning of the training center and the Conference Hall was part of education which would impact positively in the lives of both officers and men of the Command and other Maritime stakeholders at large even as he insisted that the Centers would serve as a provider of network of ideas that would enhance capacity of officers and other stakeholders alike. He went further to posit that the Centres would help in information gathering that would help them suppress smuggling, facilitate trade and enhance productivity.

Speaking more about the Centers, he said education is not only acquiring knowledge but to impact it to individuals and the community and that is what the Centers stand to give.

Earlier, in his welcome address the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Baba Imam said that the training and the Conference centers were made possible by the combined efforts of the Command as parts of its corporate social Responsibility CSR.

He stated that the Compliant and tractable stakeholders within the Command welcomed the command's vision of having a conducive training centre and made it a reality in order to help both officers and stakeholders in the loop with the best International practices on import and export guidelines. "

Written by Bon Peters in Port Harcourt