By Elder Ben OKEZIE
Many people would want to be honoured but only few work either towards it or dream of it. No wonder an anonymous writer whose thought were found in a book was ascribed to an unknown aptly captured My thought when he said “Honor is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. “ It is the holy book that further throws more light and understanding into the word “ honour” when it says “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”. This is the type of personality the SUN publishing company, the publishers of the nations best daily newspaper “The SUN , found in the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service , Adewale Adeniyi for a unique award by honour as one of the receipient of the 2024 SUN special award. An award that had over the years celebrated painstakingly selected unique personalities from every sectors of the society including security community and notable politicians. In a notification letter delivered to Mr Adewale , it reads, “On behalf of the Management of The Sun Publishing Limited, publishers of Daily Sun, Saturday Sun, Sunday Sun and Sporting Sun, I bring you warm greetings.
The Sun will on Saturday, March 1, 2025, honour Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, Comptroller General, Nigerian Customs Services with the prestigious The Sun Public Service Personality Award.
Mr. Adeniyi was voted winner in that category, among other notable persons, for bringing innovation to bear, which has improved corporate governance and revenue target attainment.“
Since his appointment Mr Adeniyi had left no one in doubt of his capability to revamp the Nigeria Customs service in all ramifications, especially in a revenue collection by blocking every loop holes. His ability to refocus the aim and objective of the Nigeria Custom to become the economic toast of the country was highly commended by President Bola Tinubu who attested to their new revenue drive prowess and enhancing Border Security
He gave the commendation through the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, at the opening ceremony of the Comptroller-General of Customs’ 2024 Conference, held at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
He lauded the NCS for its proactive approach in supporting the administration’s economic vision, describing the agency as a model of adaptability in times of economic challenge.
The President, who emphasised the importance of initiative among government bodies to advance Nigeria’s economic aspirations, also stated, “Our vision requires government agencies to be proactive in aligning their statutory responsibilities with broader national economic objectives.”
Highlighting the NCS’s accomplishments under Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi. Tinubu singled out the agency’s strategies to confront economic pressures, which included innovative reforms aimed at enhancing trade facilitation.
It was disclosed that a total of NGN 28.1 billion worth of illicit goods, including narcotics, arms, and wildlife products, had been intercepted in 2024 alone.
It was further disclosed that “Operation Whirlwind,” a dedicated campaign against petroleum product smuggling conducted in collaboration with the National Security Adviser’s office and the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, as a major initiative in protecting national resources and economic stability. It is such personality that the Sun newspaper organization had fished out for his outstanding performance and brought him out to be publicly honoured. If we should further package the onerous achievements of the agency one can easily say here is an agency that single handedly provided almost 70% of the total revenue the country would use for its budgetary requirement . Applauding such an outstanding achievement in revenue collection is what the Sun newspaper management has done, this should further encourage other agencies to know that their activities are always in the public glare. CG Adeniyi has done well he has shown that he possesses a unique leadership quality for achievement. In fact achievements had Continue to trail him since he was spokesman of the agency that the Sun management were able to locate him means that “A golden fish has no hiding place” .
Security file says welldone CG Adeniyi !!!
