The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has earned a top global honour after its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, Customs Cares, clinched the Commonwealth Environment and CSR Gold Award in Glasgow, Scotland.
The award, which honours organisations with measurable, sustainable and community-driven interventions that advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), was presented to the NCS on Friday, July 31, 2026.
According to the National Public Relations Officer of the Service, Deputy Comptroller of Customs Abdullahi Maiwada, the Customs Cares initiative stood out for its impact in education, healthcare, food security, and environmental sustainability across Nigeria.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Timi Bomodi, described the recognition as a defining milestone in the Service’s transformation journey.
“This award is both humbling and inspiring. It affirms our belief that public institutions create their greatest value not only by fulfilling their statutory mandates, but by improving lives and strengthening the communities they serve,” CGC Adeniyi said.
He attributed the honour to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that the Customs Cares initiative has reached more than 10 million Nigerians across 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory through school renovations, healthcare projects, the provision of clean water, food support, and the Green Borders Initiative.
“Beyond every classroom renovated, every borehole commissioned and every tree planted is something even more enduring; trust,” he added.
Speaking on climate action and partnerships, the Governor of Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya, Muthomi Njuki, stated that no country could solve the climate crisis alone, stressing that through accountability, partnership, innovation and shared responsibility, the world could become greener, safer, and more prosperous.
The Comptroller in charge CSR, Mbwiduffu Ibrahim, emphasised that the recognition would spur the Service to do more.
“For a long time, we worked believing that the impact in our communities was reward enough. Today, this international recognition tells us that those efforts have not gone unnoticed,” Ibrahim said.
The organisers noted that the NCS won the award for its innovative Hub-and-Spoke Community Activation Model. They added that the recognition reinforces the Service’s reputation as a modern Customs administration committed to revenue generation, trade facilitation, border security, and sustainable development.
