- Babatunde Olomu (middle) flanked by his wife and the Command Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Usman after receiving three outstanding awards to self and his Apapa Port Command at the Comptroller-General of Customs Award Night in Abuja…Friday
By Anthony Nwachukwu
In recognition of its outstanding revenue performance, as well as the ingenuity of its area controller, the Apapa Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and its Area Controller, Compt. Babatunde Olomu, were honoured with three awards at the Comptroller-General of Customs Award Night.
While the Apapa Port Command won the Revenue Collection and Excellence awards for its outstanding feats, Compt. Olomu was celebrated by colleagues, friends and stakeholders as he emerged the Best Controller of the Year for his exceptional leadership and for improving the command’s capacity to deliver on its mandates at Nigeria’s premier port, Apapa.
The three awards, presented to the command on Friday in Abuja at a ceremony hosted by the CGC, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, recognised the command for its various groundbreaking achievements in the areas of revenue collection, anti-smuggling and trade facilitation.
For the first time in the history of the command, it generated N2 trillion as revenue into government coffers as at November 20, 2024. Under the leadership of Compt. Olomu, the command raised the bar in preventing revenue leakages and achieving maximum collection, even in the face of low trade volume.
With hands on daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly evaluation of its activities, the command has been attuned to getting all officers to resume early, process all entries timely, carry out diligent examination and shun compromise in the discharge of their duties.
On receiving the awards, Olomu dedicated them to all officers and men of the command, telling them not to see the honours as the end of hardwork but a motivation and challenge to work harder.
He described the achievements as the result of teamwork, dedication, focus and cooperation. Stating that no leader can excel without supportive lieutenants, he called for continuous support from all stakeholders as the command enters the last month of 2024.
Olomu thanked the CGC for the honours, stating that he has been a source of inspiration and good example for all officers to emulate. According to him, the award as a motivation for selflessness, call for increased commitment and a challenge to sustain and improve on the tempo of work at the command, which will cascade to all bonded terminals attached to it.
He further urged all port users to rededicate themselves to national service by being law-abiding, and report suspected unlawful acts in the port to the service and other security agencies.
Meanwhile, Olomu commended import and export traders who have used the Apapa Port within the period of his leadership and implored them to operate in full compliance with the guidelines for their trade. He particularly praised exporters who pioneered export activities under the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He reminded them that compliance saves money and time, builds integrity for positive profiling and helps in recognition for upgrade to the authorised economic operator (AEO) status.
Inviting more Nigerian businessmen and women to take advantage of the ease of doing business initiative to use Apapa Port, he urged them to tap into the simplified procedures being emplaced by the CGC under an evolving modernisation regime to trade seamlessly.
