Fight smuggling to save Nigerian economy~ Custom CG

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By; Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.
The Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS), Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) Wednesday tasked officers and men of the service to fight smuggling to save Nigerian economy.
Ali stated this in Ibadan while addressing men and officers of the Oyo/Osun Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, during a working visit to the command.
He declared that smugglers are part of the problems presently facing the country and that “it is the duty of the Service to fight smuggling to save the nation’s fledgling economy,” saying, it is time for officers and men of the Oyo/Osun Command to “fight smuggling and ensure that smuggling is stamped out” .
In doing this, he said the NCS is working towards improving the welfare of officers and men of the service so as to motivate its men in meeting the mandate of President Mohammadu Buhari on the nation’s revenue.
According to him, for the NCS  to achieve such a mandate, it must improve on the welfare of its officers and men, saying, “we expect nothing but the optimum in  terms of performance”.
“We are working assiduously towards increasing our performance. Presently, the Customs and the FIRS remained the major source of revenue for the federal government. Oil has gone so low that we can no longer be dependent on oil. Solid minerals have not been developed to the level that it will sustain us. So, the only source of stable revenue for the federal government is the FIRS and the customs,” he said.
The NCS boss stressed further that “so, it is not a matter of choice. It is a must that we step up our performance in order to garner that money to sustain this nation. So, we have no choice”.
He pointed out that the motivation for the NCS personnel would be in terms “of residential accommodation, transport, insurance, remuneration, office accommodation and lots of other things.”
 
“We need to motivate the service personnel to deliver and we are working with the government to make sure that if things improve you can be rest assured that the service will also be improved.
“Anybody that wants performance must equally look after the welfare of the staff. We are doing everything to make sure that the welfare of the personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service are taken care of in terms of residential, transport, insurance, remuneration, office accommodation and lots of other things.
“We are not comfortable with a situation where we are renting office or residential accommodation for our service personnel. We are working on that and as soon as we get the funds we will embark on permanent structures to make sure that our men are accommodated”.
Speaking on his visit to the Oyo/Osun NCS command, he said it was to enable him to familiarise himself with the establishments in the Command and “see what is on ground.”

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