Uche Henry
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), said it generated about N311.2 billion as revenue in the first quarter of 2019.
A document released by the office of the Public Relations Officer of the service, Mr. Joseph Attah, in Abuja showed the revenue was generated between January and March this year.
The Federal Government had set a revenue target of N887 billion for NCS in 2019.
However, the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), promised the figure would be surpassed as management had earlier set a higher target for the organisation.
The document indicated that NCS raked in about N116.5 billion in January, N84.9 billion in February, while N109.8 billion was generated in March. It showed that the revenue came in from 29 Commands of the Service across the country.
According to Attah, Apapa Customs’ Command had the highest revenue generate, followed by TinCan. The revenue sources were mainly generated from import duty, levy, exercise duty and other fees. The Service said it generated a revenue of N1.2 trillion in the corresponding period of 2018.
Meanwhile, the Export Group of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Manufacturing and Agriculture (NACCIMA-Group), has urged the Federal Government to pursue products’ quality development to suppoprt local manufacturers to become more competittive even in international markets. The call comes as as it inducted 95 new members into the group from across industries.
Speaking at the induction ceremony in Lagos at the weekend, the Chairman of the group, Kola Awe, told Daily Sun that both the government and members of NACCIMA Export Group must focus more on quality improvement, saying that it was high time the Federal Government made products-friendly policies and programmes to boost quality production for local consumption and export.
He said, “all government agencies that facilitate local production, investment and export must think of policies and programmes that must reduce cost of production and engage local manufacturers on capacity building and help them get international certifications to boost the image of our products.”
The Export Group Chairman charged federal and state governments to provide necessary infrastructure and other support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and show exemplary leadership by patronising indigenous products and services.
“Its not enough to create enabling business environment and other supports without buying our local products and services. When leaders are seen patronising local produce, citizens will follow suit,” he stressed.