It began like a rumour as the news that the outgoing Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Dr. Dikko Inde Abdullahi has written and notified President Muhammadu Buhari in a letter dated 3rd August, 2015 of his intention to voluntarily retire from the Service on the 18th 0f August, 2015 filtered into the Nigeria’s Maritime industry.
But what came in with the initial doubt about whether or not the information was true started gathering momentum and gradually became a dominant issue in every discourse in the maritime industry. The information became more confusing when the Nigeria Customs Service could not clarify to the satisfaction of the industry stakeholders the veracity or otherwise of the information.
Recall that Primetime Reporters, last Tuesday reported that the National Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Wale Adeniyi denied any knowledge of his boss’ resignation saying that he had just read the news on the Newspapers just like any other Nigerian and that he had not seen Dikko to confirm from him whether or not he notified the President of his intention to throw in the towel.
But the truth of the matter is that Alhaji Dikko Inde Abdullahi actually wrote to President Buhari and the news coming from the Aso Rock Villa yesterday indicated that President Buhari had accepted his resignation and wished him well in his future endeavour. And so, by the end of work today, Dikko’s name would have entered the list of former Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service all things being equal.
It will be noted that President Buhari’s letter conveying his approval of Dikko’s resignation request was dated 14th August, 2015 and personally signed by him where he as well thanked him for his services to his fatherland in the past six years.
The letter read,” Dear, Alhaji D.I. Abdullahi, I write to acknowledge the receipt of your letter Ref. No. NCS/ADM/HQ/P. 35802 of 3rd August, 2015 conveying your decision to voluntarily retire from the Nigeria Customs Service with effect from Tuesday, 18th August, 2015.
“I note with appreciation your services to this nation, especially as the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service in the last six (6) years.
“Accordingly, I hereby approve your voluntary retirement from the Nigeria Customs Service with effect from 18th August 2015.
“I wish you the very best in your future endeavours.
“Yours sincerely, Muhammadu Buhari”.
It will be recalled that August 16, 2015 marked the 6th anniversary of the Nigeria Customs Service under the leadership of Dr. Abdullahi Dikko Inde who on assumption of office listed a six-point agenda which he vigorously pursued.
Speaking on the successes made on the six-point agenda, Dikko stated that the agenda had positively impacted on the efficiency and performance of officers of the service and had drastically changed the negative perception of the service.
He listed the six-point agenda to include capacity building, introduction of e-Customs, enhancing productivity through improved welfare package, moral rebirth for discipline and integrity in service, collaboration and partnering with stakeholders and international organisations, as well as fostering understanding of the Service in the eye of the general public using an intensified and a well-coordinated public relations platform.
On account of his stewardship, Dikko maintained that under his watch, the revenue collection into various coffers of government increased drastically.
He said the Service’s average monthly collection in 2009 when he took over was about N29billion, adding that the average monthly collection is currently between N90billion and N100billion.
He hinged his decision to embark on voluntary resignation on the need to allow young bloods to take over the mantle of leadership of the Service in order to sustain and improve on his legacy.
“While thanking Your Excellency and indeed Nigerians for the opportunity to serve and contribute my quota to the development of our fatherland, I wish to seek approval of Your Excellency to be allowed to retire voluntarily on 18th August 2015.
“This decision is taken with a view to allowing young bloods takeover the mantle of leadership of the Service in order to sustain and improve on my legacy”, he said.
As Dikko retires from service today, it will remain indelible to so many in the history of the Nigeria Customs Service how progressively the service had fared in so short a time that he mounted the leadership of the service. It is on record that Dikko’s administration has turned the service from a multi-billion naira revenue agency to a more than a trillion naira government agency.
Enforcement duties have not been downplayed under Dikko’s Administration as the service has waged war against smuggling of all sorts of goods prohibited or banned into the country. From the available records, the service recorded the interception of prohibited goods worth several billion naira in the last five years saving the country from being a dumping ground. Arms smuggling which was on the increase before the inception of his administration were reduced to the barest minimum.
Under Dikko, Nigeria became the headquarters of the World Customs Organization (WCO) for West Africa Sub-region whereas payment of salaries of the men and officers of the service became more regular. Nigeria was able to domesticate the Common External Tariff (CET) in Customs operation as the regime has taken off in all customs formations.
Furthermore, Destination Inspection (DI) of goods coming into Nigeria was a project wholly undertaken by Foreign Service providers before the goods were imported into the country. But with the capacity building and training and re-training of officers and staff of the service, the customs has now take over the Destination Inspection Scheme thus saving the country of large chunk of money that would have been fleeted out of the country as the inspections are now being done by the Nigeria Customs Officers.
Although there had been pockets of resentment on the Dikko’s leadership style as well as his continued stayed in office as many believed that having done his four year tenure, he should give way for another person to try his bit, nevertheless, Dikko still enjoy a lot of goodwill as many amongst which is the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) still want him to hold the forte till August 2016.
Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters yesterday in Lagos, the Founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam observed that Dikko has done a great job in terms of revenue that was due to the government, training and capacity building of officers, infrastructural development as well as the Destination Inspection under customs control which he took through the transitional period to the stable stage.
“Look at the amount of money that young man has saved this country, it runs into billions and you can go on. So, people like us have actually advised him, I think you have done your best, he is going now, he is going as a great man of honour unlike some of his counterparts or colleagues they dismissed over radio or television announcement”, Aniebonam said.
On why NAGAFF was asking President Buhari to refuse granting him approval to resign until August 2016, he said,” There are some unfinished assignments, like the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA), he need to look at it. Even the 2004 Customs Reforms, restructuring that made customs zonal offices immobile. It was 2004 customs reforms, restructuring that made zonal offices ineffective because of selfishness otherwise why should a clearing agent be going to Abuja to solve a minor issue that he can handle at the zonal offices. Something was fundamentally wrong. So, those things are the next stage of what we thought he will do in the next one year or two and get the system working but whoever is coming, I expect him to continue from there”.
On his part, the National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Farinto informed that the Nigeria Customs Service had never had it so good adding that as a customs broker; he knew what it used to be.
According, to him, “This man has succeeded in forcing compliance down the throats of everybody in the ports. What we were collecting before he came on board was just mere 30 billion naira but now on monthly basis, they are collecting 100 billion.
“I am not saying he does not have a shortfall but when a man behaves and performs, let us give him kudos. He has tried his best for the Service”.
Also speaking, the Secretary of ANLCA, Tincan Islannd Chapter, Evang. David Chuks Kanikwu noted that since the era of Dikko Inde Abdullahi, customs had gone through many reforms and it had introduced many platforms that had encouraged increased revenue.
He said,” You can see customs moving from billion to trillion as target and it is as a result of input from the management of customs who are refining and blocking the loopholes through which the foreign companies and countries were afflicting us or whatever.
“You can see, we tried to build PAAR that sometimes the Destination Inspection Agents have undervalue, I mean the Service Providers or they overvalue. So, to resolve these trade disputes becomes a herculean task but now there is a PAAR resolution desk within the customs which was introduced in the early days of PAAR. That thing helped solve lot things that ordinarily would have been neglected and from there, they are profiling data”.
From whichever angle one looks at it, one thing is pertinent, Dikko has done his bit and he did it to the best of his ability. Therefore, as the nation and indeed the stakeholders await the announcement of the new Comptroller-General of Customs by President Muhammadu Buhari today, Nigerians are hopeful that the Nigeria customs Service would no longer go back in the dark days where it worth nothing but corruption in the public glare.
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