By Steve Agbota

The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has congratulated the newly promoted officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and urge them to add value to trade facilitation at the nation’s seaport.

Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, the acting president Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Dr. Kayode Farinto, described the newly promoted officers particularly the Comptrollers and Assistant Controller Generals (ACG’s) as core officers who can add value to the service.

Farinto who described the last management team of NCS as an emperor that flouted a lot of conventions both international conventions and the national laws.

He alleged that the last management team of Customs gave arbitrary Debit Notes thereby frustrating trade facilitation at the ports.

He, however, commend the new crops of officers that makes up the management team of the service. He charged the new officers to take up responsibilities and come up with trade policies that will promote trade in the country.

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“I want to use this opportunity to congratulate the new management team. They are core officers, they are officers that can add value, we should not have a management team that will act as emperors, because NCS now should be thinking of trade facilitation, revenue generation and security of this country.

“The last management team of NCS was an emperor where once the emperor talks nobody queries, and that management team actually flouted a lot of conventions, international conventions and national law given arbitrary DN here and there.

“Making seizures here and there, on a consignment you can have three DN, I’m encouraging this management team because I have confidence in them

“I’m privilege to have known some of them as younger officers and I only tell them that with the fact that God has placed you in this position now add value because we are using it in this country the last management team of NCS made Nigeria to fall below International standard that’s why a lot of importers are not even importing

“So these management team has a lot of work to do, come out with trade policies, engage stakeholders and let the training committee have information in view of sensitization and where there are areas that we can call cash cows like in power rolling center which has been turn to cash cows some people can make money my advice to them is to dismantle the power office, bring in new hands that will add value.

“Because I know I have confidence in them, at least I know about 7 or 8 of them who can really add value. Once again congratulations to them,” he said.