Hyacinth Chinweuba
The Tin Can Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has recorded a revenue generation of N76.7bn in the first quarter of the year.
The figure showed about N14.9bn improvement from what was realized during the same period in 2017 which was N61.8bn.
In a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mr Uche Ejesieme, the revenue record was attributed to innovations and reforms towards re-jigging and re-engineering the consciousness of officers/men towards enhancing efficiency and productivity in the Command.
The statement said the efforts of the Controller have yielded results as evident in the quantum leap of the revenue generated in the first quarter.
The Customs Area Controller Comptroller M.B.A. Musa had released the revenue figures while delivering a paper on the “General Overview of the Command”, before a delegation of participants of Senior Division Course 1 /2018 from the Command & Staff College Gwagwalada led by the Commandant ACG Charles Edike.
Musa noted that “though the first quarter of each year was usually synonymous with low volume of trade, the migration to NICIS II platform by the Command, also contributed to some hiccups that affected declarations, but which we have surmounted”.
The Controller however reiterated his resolve to ensure that adequate measures are put in place to enable the Command be on top of its statutory mandate, stating categorically that his concept of continuous stakeholder engagement, training and re-training officers as well as trade facilitations models will be leveraged on for service delivery.
In his address of welcome to the team, the Controller stressed that deliberate and concerted efforts were being made to ensure that the policies and programs of the Command were tailored towards achieving enhanced efficiency, while promoting competitiveness in the trade value chain.
He pointed out that the Command was at the vanguard of implementation of the presidential directive on Ease of Doing Business as the lead agency.
According to him, the Command has strengthened the existing relationship with other security/regulatory agencies for actualization of the presidential directive on creating enabling business environment at the ports.
In his speech, the Commandant lauded the achievement of the Command in the first quarter 2018 when compared with same period in 2017 and expressed optimism that the Controller has what it takes in terms of capacity and integrity to take the Command to enviable heights.
Similarly, he informed the Controller that the Central Theme for the Tour is “ENHANCING THE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY IN NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE” – with emphasis on how the Command contributes to realizing same.
He stated further that the team would expect the CAC’s presentation to capture administrative set up of the Command, import/export, processes/procedures, automation and other operational tools (examination, scanning etc.) major miles stones, achievements in stakeholder relations, challenges among others.
The Controller gave an overview of the Command highlighting the legal frame work for the establishment of the Port in 1977 as well as comprehensive Information/Data about the activities and statutory mandate of the Command.