The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commissioned the rehabilitated Ebubu Primary Healthcare Centre in Eleme, Rivers State, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, Customs Cares, aimed at supporting communities and contributing to their social development.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, PhD, who spoke during the commissioning on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, said the intervention reflects the Service’s responsibility to contribute to the wellbeing of communities beyond its statutory mandates of revenue collection, trade facilitation and border security.
Adeniyi, who recalled that the NCS officially launched Customs Cares in March 2025, said the programme has recorded interventions in school renovations, scholarships, medical outreaches, healthcare facility rehabilitation, food distribution, agricultural initiatives, skills acquisition, solar-powered lighting, borehole projects and other community infrastructure.
He said the Ebubu project is particularly significant because healthcare is fundamental to human dignity, productivity and community development, noting that the condition of the centre before the intervention affected the delivery of quality primary healthcare services to residents and surrounding communities.
“What we have achieved here is therefore more than physical rehabilitation. We have invested in access, dignity and hope,” Adeniyi said.
The CGC, however, stressed that the rehabilitation will only achieve its purpose if the facility is properly managed and maintained, noting that its sustainability requires adequate staffing, regular maintenance and continued support from relevant government institutions and the community.
He also appreciated the traditional rulers, community leaders, Rivers State Government, Rivers State Primary Health Care Board, Eleme Local Government Council, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders who contributed to the success of the project.
On his part, the Customs Area Controller, Port Harcourt II Area Command, Onne, Comptroller Aliyu Alkali, said the Service’s impact should not be measured only by revenue figures or enforcement statistics, but also by the positive difference its presence makes in the communities where it operates.
Also speaking, the Comptroller in charge of the Corporate Social Responsibility Unit, Comptroller Patience Ibrahim, said the initiative reflects the Service’s belief that its responsibility to Nigerians extends beyond revenue collection to making a meaningful difference in the communities it serves.
Dignitaries at the commissioning said the rehabilitated centre will bring quality healthcare closer to residents, while urging the community and other stakeholders to take ownership of the facility and ensure its continued usefulness.
