Nigeria Customs Service Embraces Automation At Lagos Industrial Area Command

BY FUNMI ALUKO

Stakeholders and participants in a group photograph after the meeting.

The Lagos Industrial Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) took a major leap towards digital transformation with the sensitization of stakeholders on the new Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), popularly known as B’Odogwu.

3At a hybrid Zoom and in-person meeting held in the Command’s Conference Hall on 30 July 2025, Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Sarah Mamza Wadinda led Heads of Units and industry stakeholders in a session aimed at demystifying the new platform.

The initiative comes in response to a directive from the Deputy Comptroller overseeing Excise, Free Trade Zones, and Industrial Incentives, mandating the automation of excise processes, nationwide.

The UCMS (B’Odogwu) platform is expected to reduce human interference, promote paperless transactions, and support real-time reporting being key tenets of the NCS’s trade facilitation agenda.

Stakeholders praised the event as “timely,” citing its potential to strengthen excise operations and enhance national economic growth.

In alignment with Section 205(b) of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, the Service emphasized the need for stakeholders to equip Resident Excise Officers with computers and adequate internet facilities to support automation efforts.

Calls were also made for the ICT department to provide updated process manuals for smoother adoption.

Comptroller Wadinda commended the turnout and the enthusiastic engagement by participants, reaffirming the Command’s commitment to efficient, tech-driven customs operations.