Nigeria Customs Builds Future Leaders Through Strategic Capacity Building Initiative
By Lucy Nyambi
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reinforced its commitment to developing future-ready leaders with the graduation of senior officers from the Advanced Senior Executive Course on Strategic and Trade Foresight, organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).
Representing the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, at the graduation ceremony held on Saturday, 4 July 2026, at the NIIA in Lagos, the Comptroller of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Comptroller Gambo Aliyu, congratulated the graduating officers and described the programme as a strategic investment in preparing the next generation of Customs leaders.
“Customs operations globally is dynamic; it’s evolving. We need to be futuristic and able to look ahead, and the Service, in its wisdom, is preparing future generations of Customs officers who will respond to the dictates of the time,” Aliyu said.
He explained that the course focused on the strategic positioning of the Nigeria Customs Service from 2026 to 2035, reflecting the Service’s vision of building a responsive, resilient and forward-looking institution that will remain at the forefront of trade policy formulation, Customs modernisation and regional integration.
Comptroller Aliyu added that the initiative aligns with the CGC’s mentor-mentee programme. “The CGC has emphasised the mentor-mentee programme. So the officers are going out as ambassadors of the Bashir Adeniyi Centre for International Trade and Investment (BACITI) and NIIA, and they are expected to impart what they have learnt here to future generations of Customs officers. It will be a win-win for the Nigeria Customs Service and the industry in general,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, described the graduation as the culmination of a strategic partnership between the Institute and the Nigeria Customs Service aimed at repositioning the Service for the changing dynamics of global trade.
“This is to build capacity for the Service to position and reposition itself for the changing times, the complexities of world trade and Customs services, particularly within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area and changes in global trade, tariff systems, the demand for standardisation of customs operation,” he said.
Osaghae commended the Comptroller-General for championing the initiative, noting that his strategic foresight has strengthened the Nigeria Customs Service’s global standing and positioned it to respond effectively to emerging trends in international trade and border management.
