By Anthony Nwachukwu
With a plaque of honour, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commended Compt. Yusuf Malanta for his efficient use of Information Technology (IT) to facilitate trade, block leakages and improve revenue collection at the Apapa Area Command.
Presenting the award to him in Abuja during the International Customs Day 2022 celebration, the CGC, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), also recognised the command’s seizure of 103 illegal imports, including pharmaceuticals and hard drugs, as well as attempted export of wildlife.
His achievements aligned with the theme of this year’s edition, “Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Digital Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem.”
Following his insistence on trade compliance and honest declaration as basis for trade facilitation, which has also received more cooperation from both importers/exporters and their agents, the command’s average monthly revenue profile since he assumed leadership in February 2021 rose from N48 billion to N85 billion.
This placed the Apapa Command as the highest revenue collector for 2021 at N870.39 billion, which also represented about one third of the agency’s total revenue generated for the year.
Excited at the award, which he dedicated to the officers and men of the command, Malanta said it was also a challenge to work harder and more diligently to help the agency achieve its 2022 target of N3.1 trillion.
