- Compt. Onyeka
By Anthony Nwachukwu
The Customs Consultative Committee (CCC) has commended the efforts and outstanding achievements of the Area Comptroller, Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Compt. Franklin Onyeka, since taking over at the command a few months ago.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, Secretary of the CCC, Dr. Eugene Nweke, noted that Compt. Onyeka’s leadership has yielded impressive results, particularly with the recent seizure of imported illicit drugs worth over N8 billion.
According to Nweke, Onyeka’s “focus on bonded terminals to prevent revenue leakages and ensure compliance is a step in the right direction. We therefore applaud his commitment to strengthening surveillance and enforcement measures, which has led to increased revenue collections.”
Commending the entire officers and men of the command under the CAC, the former President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) listed Onyeka’s achievements so far to also include “focus on bonded terminals to prevent revenue leakages.”
The others are: “improving compliance and revenue collections; and prompt and sustainable inter-agency collaboration via innovative information sharing.”
Meanwhile, to build on his successes, Nweke urged the comptroller to “consider implementing further digital solutions, such as blockchain technology, to track goods-in-transit and prevent tampering and route diversions.”
He further tasked the comptroller on continued strengthening of surveillance and enforcement measures, enhanced collaboration with relevant agencies, including the NDLEA; special and peculiar training and capacity-building programmes for the command’s customs officers, and to encourage transparency and accountability among terminal operators.
According to Nweke, improved stakeholder engagement and communication will prevent corruption and ensure compliance. More so, the CAC should continuously review and refine strategies in order to stay ahead of emerging threats and challenges.
He further expressed hope that the impact of his innovative initiatives in cargo handling operations, stakeholders and officers of the command and Nigerians in general would soon translate to further gains.
