The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko, has appealed to governments in Africa to give their respective Customs service more support for effective performance.
Dikko made the appeal at the recently-concluded 17th Conference of the Directors-General of Customs in the West and Central Africa Region of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) in Cotonou.
Dikko, who is the Vice-Chairman of the organisation, said customs services within the region needed political support and adequate funding to enable them operate effectively.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko, has appealed to governments in Africa to give their respective Customs service more support for effective performance.
Dikko made the appeal at the recently-concluded 17th Conference of the Directors-General of Customs in the West and Central Africa Region of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) in Cotonou.
Dikko, who is the Vice-Chairman of the organisation, said customs services within the region needed political support and adequate funding to enable them operate effectively.
He said that the conference was aimed at addressing critical issues which affected the region for optimal service delivery.
Dikko said the issues to be addressed include revenue generation, smuggling, capacity building in rules of origin, environmental protection, evaluation, classification, detection of documentary fraud and intellectual property rights.
“Those challenges are no doubt daunting but not insurmountable, provided we are determined to be efficient in the discharge of our duties and are prepared to make sacrifices as leaders who will want to leave good legacy.
“In so doing we must always be our brother’s keepers by way of sharing information and checking more carefully exports from our countries which of course becomes imports to our neighbours.
The Customs chief urged the regional heads to take advantage of the conference to identify their respective problems.
Also speaking the Secretary-General of WCO, Mr Kunio Mikuriyo stressed the importance of sharing experiences among members to enable the organisation achieve its objectives.
He said all customs administrations needed to implement global standard, risk management and improved technology to ensure cooperation among them.
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