Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC) Oscar Enya Ivara, Public Relations Officer for the Nigeria Customs Service’s (NCS) Tin Can Island Port Command, has spent more than 13 years building relationships with maritime journalists across various Customs commands, work that earned him the Congress of Nigerian Maritime Media Practitioners’ (CONMMEP) Customs Commands’ Best Public Relations Officer Award. He received the recognition during CONMMEP’s Annual Lecture and 5th Anniversary Celebration, held June 25 and 26, 2026, in Ikeja, Lagos.
Ivara’s approach to the role has centred on timely, accurate disclosure rather than defensive communication, an approach CONMMEP credited with reducing misinformation and strengthening trust between the NCS and the press covering it. Among the moments cited as evidence of that approach: his prompt public disclosure of the Tin Can Island Command’s ₦347.93 billion first-quarter 2025 revenue, and his announcement of the Command’s record ₦16.41 billion single-day revenue collection on August 19, 2025. He has also pushed digital advocacy for the B’Odogwu Customs clearance platform at Tin Can Island, an initiative CONMMEP said has supported improved compliance, efficiency and revenue transparency at the port.
Accepting the award, Ivara kept his remarks brief and characteristically understated. “The reward for hard work is more work. I sincerely thank CONMMEP for finding me worthy of this honour. I am deeply humbled and will not take this recognition for granted,” he said. He used the moment to congratulate CONMMEP on its fifth anniversary and to reaffirm his Command’s commitment to working with the maritime press going forward, speaking on behalf of Customs Area Controller Comptroller Joseph Anani and the rest of the Tin Can Island Port Command. “We remain committed to sustaining our collaboration with CONMMEP and the maritime media in promoting the activities of the Nigeria Customs Service,” he added.
The award came as part of CONMMEP’s broader fifth-anniversary programme, which included the association’s annual lecture and brought together stakeholders from across the maritime industry, government agencies and the media. CONMMEP President Comrade Udo Onyeka said the association intends to keep recognising officers and practitioners whose integrity and service move the sector forward, with Ivara’s more than a decade of consistent engagement cited as exactly that kind of example.