…Says Adeniyi will build a modern customs service
The Managing Director of Gold Link Investment Limited, Sir Tony Anakebe has applauded the move by the Acting Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Bashir Adeniyi to establish Nigeria Customs Service laboratory to check counterfeit goods, smuggling and non compliant imports.
It will be recalled that this medium reported recently that Adeniyi, on appointment as the Acting Comptroller General of Customs, had engaged in strategic discussions with partners such as the World Customs Organization, WCO, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Japan Customs Administration. The discussions aim to garner support for the establishment of a customs Laboratory, a significant milestone in enhancing customs operations and trade facilitation across Nigeria.
Amidst the current landscape of evolving global trade dynamics, the NCS Laboratory will provide comprehensive solutions to address challenges such as counterfeit goods, smuggling, and non-compliant imports, thereby bolstering revenue generation and ensuring the protection of public health and safety.
With its advanced analytical capabilities, the laboratory is expected to deliver precise identification, verification, and classification of goods, enabling efficient enforcement measures and informed decision-making, while fostering an environment of trust and credibility within Nigeria’s trade ecosystem, marking a transformative step towards achieving seamless customs operations, trade competitiveness, and national economic growth in line with the vision of the President Tinubu Led Administration.
Speaking in an exclusive chat with Primetime Reporters in Lagos on Wednesday, Anakebe who said that he saw nothing wrong in customs establishing a laboratory noting that it would assist the Service to identify fake goods, check false declaration and smuggling.
While contending that the development would not amount to duplication of functions as according to him, customs laboratory would only be relevant to the extent of its statutory function which he said were quite distinct from that of the Standards Organization of Nigeria, SON and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC which had similar laboratories.
He said, “I will not see it as duplication of functions because customs needs a laboratory that will test the quality of goods coming into the country. I have been a canvasser for one stop shop for clearing purposes where every agency will cooperate and collaborate to examine consignments and at the end, write their report. All the agencies ought to be on the Single Window platform where they can share information among themselves because if NAFDAC sent in its examination report and so does SON, the work will be seamless and from their reports, the customs will now go ahead to release.
“So, I see nothing wrong with customs establishing a laboratory.”
The Gold Link Investment Limited boss, however, expressed his happiness that the Nigeria Customs Service had come back under the control of a seasoned customs officer insisting that “a seasoned customs officer as far as I am concerned, is the best option for the Nigeria Customs Service and with him (Adeniyi), I think customs is good to go as at now.”
He recalled that when the present Comptroller General of Customs was the Customs Area Controller at Tincan and Apapa commands, he had always known him as an intelligent officer who would go far in the Service. “Fortunately for him, the new administration appointed him to replace the former CG. I know what he can do and I believe so much in him and I have confidence that he will perform”, he added.
“Also, I believe that Wale Adeniyi as CG of Customs will perform creditably in that office. He is a seasoned officer who knows his onion and I have met him in one or two occasions. He will establish a modern customs service in Nigeria and I believe he can do that”, he submitted.
Photo: Sir Tony Anakebe, Managing Director, Gold Link Investment Limited.
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