‘Leadership Is Deliberate and Encapsulates Discipline, Accountability, Innovation’

…Adeniyi Said As Customs Holds Retreat for Newly Promoted Comptrollers

BY FUNMI ALUKO

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has concluded a transformative week-long leadership retreat for its newly promoted Comptrollers, with a resounding call from the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) for officers to be deliberate in leadership and uphold the core values of discipline, accountability, and innovation.

Held at the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi Auditorium of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, the retreat ran from October 7 to 11, 2025, and was designed to equip senior officers with the strategic mindset and operational tools required to lead effectively across commands and formations.

Declaring the retreat open, Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), DCG Sulaiman Chiroma, emphasized that the initiative aligns with the CGC’s reform agenda aimed at modernizing the Service. He urged the newly promoted Comptrollers to embrace leadership with intentionality and to embody the Service’s values in their daily conduct.

“This retreat provides an opportunity to realign with the CGC’s three-point agenda: collaboration, consolidation, and innovation.

“Your performance will define the image of the Service in the public space. Be deliberate in leadership and uphold the values of discipline, accountability, and innovation”, Chiroma stated.

In his closing remarks, DCG Greg Itotoh, who oversees Human Resource Development, described the promotion of the officers as both a recognition of past excellence and a call to higher responsibility. He reminded the participants that they now serve as managers of men and resources, and must lead with integrity and transparency.

“The Nigeria Customs Service expects much from you. Every decision you take in your command will reflect not just on you, but on the Service as a whole”, Itotoh said.

The retreat also featured a lecture by Assistant Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, National Public Relations Officer, who spoke on “Stakeholder Management, Media Community, and Employee Relationship.” He highlighted the importance of effective communication, urging officers to foster credibility and build productive relationships within and outside the Service.

“PR is not just about information dissemination; it is about relationship building,” Maiwada noted. “Every Customs officer must become an ambassador of the Service’s integrity.”

Comptrollers Usman Yahaya, Murtala Mu’azu, and Josephine Egwakide, speaking to journalists after the closing ceremony, expressed gratitude to the CGC and pledged to uphold the Service’s vision of excellence and stakeholder confidence.

With the retreat concluded, the newly promoted Comptrollers are expected to translate the CGC’s vision into measurable outcomes that enhance trade facilitation, border security, and institutional trust.