CGC Adeniyi being presented with a portrait of himself by CAC Nnadi.
CGC Adeniyi being presented with a portrait of himself by CAC Nnadi on the right and flanked the chairman of Badavry West LG on the left.
Story by Dili Utomi.
The Acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi has reiterated his desire to review the issue of multiple check points along the Badagry Seme expressway and reduce the numbers as a way of helping the free flow of traffic, removing the embarrassing image that it constitutes and also help to engender the free trade as espoused in the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The CGC’s address being listened to with rapt attention.
The Acting CGC was speaking during his visit to the Seme Command of the Nigeria Customs Service in Continuation of the Customs Command within the Zone A of the Service. CGC Adeniyi noted that the communities around the border areas have complained about the high number of check points along the axis when he visited the Akran of Badagry. He said that border security is very important to the entire national security architecture, but that this can be achieved with fewer number of check points as policies that enhance national security are dynamic and not rigid in nature.
Meanwhile, the Customs Area Controller of the Command, Dera Nnadi has said that the potential in doing business among the over Four Hundred and Twenty Eight Million people within the West African sub-region is enormous and should be fully exploited as trade within the Lagos-Abidjan corridor accounts for about 75% of all trade within the sub-region while noting that common trade among this region ranks 4th among all African regions trading with each other.
CAC Nnadi also used the opportunity to detail some of the achievements of the Command in the course of the year. He said that the revenue target for the Command this year is One Billion, Nine Hundred and Sixty Million Naira (#1,960,000,000.00), but that as at the close of business on the 20th of July, 2023, the Command has generated a total of One Billion, Three Hundred and Twenty Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Two Thousand, Nine Hundred and Thirty Seven Naira, Fifty Seven Kobo (#1,320,582,937.57k) only. This represents 67% of the target given the Command. The collection for the corresponding year of 2022 was Nine Hundred and Seventeen Million, Seven Hundred and Eighty Eight Thousand, Three Hundred and Twenty Nine Naira and Twenty Eight Kobo (#917,788,329.28k)
In anti-smuggling activities, the command was also noted to have seized Six Million dollars ($6,000,000.00) worth of fake notes amounting to over Two Billion, Seven Hundred Million Naira (#2,700,000,000.00) in local currency.
According to CAC Nnadi, other seizures over the period of January to June this year include: 6,569 bags of foreign parboiled rice with a duty paid value (DPV) of over Two Hundred and Fifteen Million, Nine Hundred and Seven, One Hundred and Seventy One Naira (#215,907,171.00). Also seized over the period are the equivalents of 12 petroleum tankers worth of petroleum products with a DPV of Six Hundred and Eighty Million, Two Hundred and Sixty Three Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy One Naira (#680,263,271.00) only. The duty paid value (DPV) of all the seized items over the period is One Billion, Fifteen Million and One Hundred and Seventy Three Thousand, Five Hundred and Eighty Seven Naira (#1,015,173,587.00) only.
CAC Nnadi also added that a lot of trade barriers have been removed in the area to help the facilitation of trade and that some corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects like the provision of 250 coconut plants, provision of football jerseys and boots have also been embarked upon.
CGC Adeniyi spoke about the government’s desire to provide favourable trading environment for Nigerian businessmen in order that we might achieve the economic prosperity that we all desire. He said that he shall be leading his team on the 24th of July to the Republic of Benin on a mission to exploit the opportunities provided by cross border relationships with regards to legitimate trade facilitation.
The atmosphere around the border post on the day was carnival like as traditional rulers, cultural groups, freight forwarders and all military and paramilitary groups within and around the border areas were in full attendance within the Customs hall and the specially mounted canopy that provided shelter for everybody within the area. Inspite of the seriously inclement weather, the crowd of people was enormous.
CGC Adeniyi thanked everyone for the warm welcome and noted that he was experiencing the largest amount of crowd since he started his tour. He was presented with various gift items by the Seme Command which include specially made Calenders, diaries, a plaque and a portrait picture of him made on an animal skin.
For advert placement and more information, please call us us on 08027590195, 08035721540 or email us at [email protected] or send us messages on twitter @dn_utomi or on instagram @utomidili
