His appointment may go down in history as the least controversial and the one that came with the least mudslinging that is usually associated with appointments of the Comptroller General, Customs. The rise to the topmost echelon by Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko as the Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service is perhaps the least tortuous in recent time.
It has been said variously that Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko is highly favoured; far and above both his seniors and contemporaries, having only about two years ago been promoted from the Seme border command where he was area controller to the rank of an assistant comptroller general (ACG) of Customs.
He is indeed highly favoured, because Dikko is not the most senior ACG, there are at least five others ahead of him. This is not to talk of the three deputy comptrollers general; all of whom were sidelined to make way for his elevation.
Despite all odds, Alhaji Dikko still emerged as the favourite of the presidency ahead of, even his seniors who had been controllers before he even became a controller. His remains the least problematic, breaking a 21- year jinx of a usually rancorous process of choosing a Customs boss. We however hasten to stress that this is not to say that he is not qualified for the job.
It is however sad that by his appointment, many senior and management officers of the service will have to go (that is, if they have not yet been shown the way out). These include scores of controllers, many assistant comptrollers general and all the deputy comptrollers general.
Disregard for seniority in the appointment of Comptroller General of Customs has been a recurring issue since the exit of Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha. His successor Elder Jacob Gyang Buba was appointed from the rank of assistant comptrollers general, so also was Buba’s successor, Alhaji Hamman Bello Ahmed. These two were made instant substantive Comptrollers General.
The appointment of Dr Bello Mohammed in 1988 as the sixth Customs boss was on account of the fierce battle for succession. The appointment of his successor; Brig. General Samuel Ango in 1994 as the Sole Administrator also came about as result of the intense fight between top officers.
The traditional fight also continued immediately news filtered out that Ango was to be removed. Eventually Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu Mustapha emerged as the eight Customs Comptroller General. He served between 1999 and 2003.
Because, the Federal Government was not quite prepared for his exit, it had problems appointing a substantive successor. This led to the interregnum of about five months during which Deputy Comptroller General Tayo Ogungbemile stood in as the acting Comptroller General.
Then came Elder Jacob Gyang Buba as substantive Comptroller General between 2004 and 2008; paving way for the now-embattled Hamman Bello Ahmed whose exit made it possible for Dr Bernard-Shaw Nwadialo to be appointed as acting Comptroller General.
Nevertheless, since only one person can be appointed into that office at a time, we join our voce to that of those who have already congratulated him. It is our expectation that he will succeed in the task of engendering a modern Customs service for Nigeria. This is because the Nigeria Customs Service needs proper diagnosis and subsequent prescription and possible surgery. Good enough, his background as a chartered accountant should put him in good stead to understand the misgivings of a lot of people about the Nigeria Customs Service especially when it comes to collection of correct revenue into the coffers of the government.
Many CGs have come and gone and most (with little exception of the tenure of Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha) have paid lip service to the issue of welfare of officers. Perhaps, the starting point for the new Customs helmsman will be to pay critical attention to issues of housing, medical and schools for the children of officers.
If the new CG can devote attention to these, perhaps he would have put in lace a policy that will gradually erase the toga of corruption which the Nigeria Customs Service has given itself over the years. An officer who is sure of good salary, good educational and health facilities for his family may be less corrupt than earns poor salary, and who is not sure of how to pay his children’s school fees and is not sure of how the house rent will be paid.
On Customs operations at the various entry points, the new CG, who most likely has a longer tenure will need to draw the line between rhetoric and action. Many CGs have come and said wonderful things about 48 hour cargo delivery, they have paid lip service to trade facilitation, yet they did very little to ensure that Customs officers desist from undue inference in cargo clearance. The Customs processes of getting cargoes released from the ports are too cumbersome and officers take advantage of this.
Good enough, Alhaji Dikko has given assurances that he would not disappoint Nigerians and indeed, the Nigeria Customs Service, so its time to hit the ground running and the best start off point is to fight corruption. It is a tall order, but it is not an impossible task.
It will be much better for him to be remembered as the CG who fought corruption and restored the lost glory of the Nigeria Customs Service as a technical agency in revenue collection than to be remembered as one of the many CGs that the Nigeria Customs Service once had
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