From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Hameed Ali on Friday reminded his officers and men to be fully computer literate and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) complaint, warning that those who fall below standard will be flushed out in 2023, when the e-Customs regime will be in operation.
Ali gave the advise in Abuja at the graduation ceremony of 80 Customs officials who underwent courses in the Junior and Senior cadre at the Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada.
40 officers made up the Senior Course 4, while another 40 were for the Junior Course 8.
According to him, the recent approval of the e-Customs project by the Federal Executive Council was a wake up call to all members of the Customs community that it will no longer be business as usual, as officers and men are expected to up the ante in service delivery.
He said: “e-Customs is a game changer. It’ll reduce human contact at various entry and exit points. You no longer need much paper work and all that.
“We will move into paperless operations in 2023, but we have to ensure we are prepared. By then, any Customs officer who can’t operate the computer has no place in Customs. You can on your own upgrade yourselves before we put you to the system. Learn to operate the computer.
“We will monitor all entrance and exit points live from a central location. That is full ICT deployment.
“We must just accept that change has come and we need to change our ways by training and retraining and complying with international best practices”.
On border closure, Ali reiterated that only four land borders have been reopened to ensure Nigeria complies with the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA).
“We can’t keep our land borders closed any longer. Seme and Mfun borders in the Southwest, Ilela and Maigatari borders in the Northwest are the ones approved for reopening.
“Again, we’ve been able to strike a deal with neighbouring countries to police our borders effectively. We have put parameters in place in this regard and it’s time to test what has been put in place.
“Let’s see if goods transited through Benin Republic are handed over to us intact as per the way it was originally.
“Now, we have border patrol that works 24-hours. The borders will be opened fully from today. Modalities have been finalised.
We’ve developed measures to reduce infractions. It’s now time to walk the talk.
“Those borders that haven’t been opened should not be used for movement of goods and services. These four for now are the only allowed entry and exit points.
“We will reduce arms and other smuggling to the barest minimum. Border communities must be ready to work with us”, he stated.
Also speaking at the event, the Commandant, Customs Command and Staff College, Wale Adeniyi, an Assistant Comptroller-General, said that inspite of the challenges earlier mentioned COVID-19 and #EndSARS protest, the College maintained 100% pass in both the senior and junior courses.
“In the Senior Course 4, 25% of the class finished with HC and above representing an increase of 2% pass rate over SC 3. The JC produced 67.5% with HC and above compared with the previous course 7 which recorded 40%. Two students in the Junior Course improved the record of their predecessors by scoring B+ in the overall result”, he added.