By Martha Agas
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has on Tuesday begun training 100 deputy comptrollers to strengthen leadership capacity and prepare them for higher responsibilities across the service.
The strategic refresher course, organised by the Human Resources Development Department in collaboration with the Customs Police Unit, commenced at the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada.
NCS Spokesperson, Abdullahi Maiwada, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Maiwada said the NCS’s Comptroller-General(C-G) Bashir Adenyi, represented by the Commandant of the College, Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs Dow Gaura, declared the workshop open.
In his remarks, the commandant described the participants as officers carefully selected for higher leadership responsibilities.
Gaura said the training which focused on discipline, succession, conduct and inculcating leadership skills beyond professional competence, was designed to prepare the participants to lead by example and serve as role models for younger personnel.
Delivering the keynote lecture, retired Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs, Dera Nnadi, said promotion came with greater responsibility than privilege, stressing that leadership in customs was rooted in service to the nation.
“The rank of Deputy Comptroller does not merely confer authority; it confers service. You owe responsibility to the service, your colleagues, your subordinates, the nation’s leadership and our stakeholders,” he said.
Also speaking, the Deputy Commandant and Director of Studies of the College, Comptroller Haniel Hadison, urged the officers to uphold regimentation, discipline and professionalism, emphasising that senior officers must set standards through exemplary conduct and appearance.
On his part, the Acting Customs Provost Marshal, Deputy Comptroller of Customs , Sanusi Saulawa, said the refresher course reflected the C-G’s commitment to continuous capacity building for officers expected to assume higher management responsibilities.
Saulawa urged the participants to continually update their knowledge, strengthen leadership skills and uphold the discipline, professionalism and integrity required to improve service delivery and sustain NCS reforms.
Meanwhile, participants pledged to apply the knowledge gained to strengthen discipline, enhance service delivery and protect the service’s image.
The source reports that the training is part of the NCS succession planning efforts to prepare a new crop of senior officers for higher leadership responsibilities and sustain ongoing reforms within the service.
