The Comptroller-General of Customs, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has reaffirmed his commitment to top-notch service delivery, stating that there is no going back on B’Odogwu — the Service’s indigenous platform aimed at enhancing trade transparency, efficiency, and compliance.
CGC Adeniyi stated this during a stakeholders’ engagement meeting held by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to address emerging issues affecting the maritime industry and cargo clearance processes, and to ensure seamless trade facilitation, at the Apapa Area Command on Monday.
In his remarks, Adeniyi emphasised that the deployment of the Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), codenamed B’Odogwu, remains a firm and irreversible policy direction.
“On B’Odogwu, there is no going back. We have to forge ahead with what we have started. We know there will be issues, which is why, before now, we met with some authorised banks, and that engagement has yielded positive results,” he said.
The CGC reiterated the Service’s readiness to maintain open communication with stakeholders. “It’s our intent to always listen to you patiently, so we have brought everyone together today as equal partners in this project.”
He highlighted some challenges that have already been resolved through joint efforts, while noting that work continues on others.
The Customs boss further lamented recent attempts to compromise the Service’s digital infrastructure.
“Just over the weekend, there were reports of individuals trying to infiltrate our system. There were several attempts, and the whole idea was to render our system inefficient. I want to remind you that such nefarious acts constitute economic sabotage, which we will not spare. On our part, we will continue to strengthen our system firewalls to prevent future downtimes,” he added.
The engagement also featured an interactive session, during which stakeholders shared their perspectives and concerns on maritime sector operations, with a collective resolve to work towards greater efficiency and transparency in cargo clearance.
