The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has said that the Nigeria Customs University, Badagry, Lagos state will come on stream before the end of the current administration while assuring that the committee was ready to give the service every budgetary support to upgrade the Customs Command and Staff College to international standard.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Leke Abejide, who spoke when he led members of the Committee on oversight of Customs formations in the FCT, also informed the 11-story corporate headquarters of the Service commissioned in 2023 by former President Buhari will soon be put into use.
The Customs Command and Staff College located in the Gwagwalada area of the FCT is designated as a Customs regional training center for West and central Africa by the World Customs Organisation but the management of the college which also serves as Training and Doctrine Command for the service said the facilities are not enough to meet up the requirement.
Abejide said the House was prepared to assist the service in achieving its set target, adding that the new Customs Act passed by the 9th Assembly strengthened the operations of the Customs while promoting career progression in the service.
He said with the new Customs Act, every officer in the service can now aspire to the position of Comptroller General as the law now makes it compulsory for the head of the service to be appointed from among career officers unlike it was in the past.
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He commended the efforts put into the construction and finishing of the headquarters of the service but said that some modifications still need to be carried out on the facility before it is put into use.
Speaking on the FCT Command of the service in terms of revenue generation, Abejide said that even though the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport which is the major operational area of the service in the FCT is mainly used by diplomats who are not expected to pay duties on their import, the service was able to generate about N6 billion so far.
He also commended the service for what he called correct corporate social responsibility in the area of service at the Customs Hospital, Karu which he described as the best paramilitary hospital in the country.
He said: “We should give kudos to Customs because they are doing very well. Even though I have not been to hospitals managed by other military and paramilitary agencies, I believe that they have the best hospital. In terms of cost, they are doing what I call correct Corporate Social Responsibility because where they are supposed to collect N100,000 as fees, they collect N10, 000 and the hospital is so neat”.
Receiving the Committee on behalf of the Comptroller General, the Deputy Comptroller General in charge of the Customs Training and Doctrine Command, DCG BS Bomai appealed to the Committee to fast-track the process of establishing the Customs University to offer specialized training for officers and men of the service.
Bomai said other Customs formations across the country have specialized universities for the training of their officers and other stakeholders within the Customs and Excise community.
He also sought the support of the committee in completing the Customs hostel to facilitate accommodation for students within the college.
