The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, has charged Public Relations Officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to embrace strategic communication in driving the Service’s reforms, strengthening institutional credibility, and sustaining public trust.
CGC Adeniyi gave the charge at the closing ceremony of the 2026 NCS Public Relations Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday, 24 July 2026.
The four-day conference focused on repositioning corporate communication as a strategic management tool for institutional effectiveness.
Adeniyi stated that the conference provided a valuable platform for reflection, learning, and institutional renewal at a defining moment in the Service’s transformation journey.
“Around the world, communication has evolved from a support service into a strategic management function. Reforms cannot succeed unless they are understood, accepted, and trusted by the people they are designed to serve,” the CGC said.
He stressed that the growing influence of digital media, artificial intelligence, and real-time information requires Customs Public Relations Officers to become more proactive, research-driven, and intelligence-led in communicating government policies and the Service’s operations.
“Every seizure, every reform, every trade facilitation initiative and every act of service must be communicated professionally and purposefully,” the Customs boss added.
Earlier, the Acting Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘C’, Comptroller Pascal Chibuoke, described corporate communication as a strategic asset that shapes public perception, strengthens stakeholder confidence, promotes transparency, and reinforces institutional legitimacy.
Comptroller Chibuoke explained that corporate communication is no longer a support function but a strategic asset that plays a vital role in strengthening public perception, building stakeholder confidence, promoting transparency, and reinforcing institutional legitimacy.
On his part, the National Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, described this year’s conference as another milestone in the evolution of Customs corporate communication, saying it built on the successes recorded in Lagos, Gwagwalada, and Kano over the last three editions.
DC Maiwada noted that institutional reforms cannot succeed without an effective communication framework, emphasising that the conference was designed not merely to exchange ideas but to develop practical solutions, strengthen professional networks, and reposition Public Relations as a strategic corporate communication function within the Nigeria Customs Service.
Delivering the closing remarks, the Customs Area Controller, Port Harcourt Area I Command, Comptroller Salamatu Atuluku, commended the Comptroller-General for sustaining investments in professional development and institutional capacity building.
Comptroller Atuluku urged participants to apply the knowledge acquired during the conference to improve service delivery across their commands.
In their goodwill messages, the President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Ike Neliaku, and the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Alhassan Yahaya, applauded Adeniyi’s leadership in institutionalising strategic communication within the Service and challenged Public Relations Officers to uphold the highest professional standards.
The conference, themed, “Realigning Corporate Communication as a Strategic Driver of Institutional Effectiveness and Public Trust,” featured technical sessions on Customs modernisation, crisis communication, media intelligence, digital innovation, stakeholder engagement, and evolving communication technologies as part of efforts to shape the future of the Service’s communication architecture.
