Customs To Expose Its Activities To More Scrutiny To Redeem Its Image – Dikko

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Abdullahi Dikko, says the service is ready to redeem its image by exposing its activities to more scrutiny.
Dikko said this on Monday in Abuja at the launch of a Public Relations (PR) project being conducted by graduate students from the Italian University in Switzerland (USI).
The project entails a seven-month research on the reputation of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Abdullahi Dikko, says the service is ready to redeem its image by exposing its activities to more scrutiny.
Dikko said this on Monday in Abuja at the launch of a Public Relations (PR) project being conducted by graduate students from the Italian University in Switzerland (USI).
The project entails a seven-month research on the reputation of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The research is expected to explore how key stakeholders perceive the service as well as make recommendations on how to effectively manage the image of the service.
Dikko told the project team that ongoing reforms championed by the service under his leadership since 2009 had benefitted the nation, business environment and the customs workforce.
“Judging by our performance in the last three years, the reforms put in place by this management have yielded positive results.
“Our revenue has increased from a monthly average of N30 billion to N100 billion in 2012.
“The improved welfare situation is motivating the officers to higher performance,'' he said.
Dikko also highlighted the e-payment regime introduced by the service to ensure a more transparent processing of documents and payments.
He, however, observed that in spite of these “positive developments’’ the service still had issues of perception from the stakeholders.
The comptroller-general pledged his support for the project in order to
“measure the NCS reputation in an objective and scientific manner’’.
“I promise the team of our cooperation for the project and also call on our stakeholders to participate in workshops, interviews and surveys during the course of the project, to cooperate with the team.’’
A member of the team and a communication expert from Germany who spoke toreporters; Ms Katja Linssen, said the project was the first of its kind  outside Europe.
“Our projects in other countries have made an impact and it has really helped organisations to look at their reputation, improve on their services and drive down costs.
“In time of crisis when things do not go the way you want them to be, you have a good reputation to build on,’’ Linssen said.
The consulting team comprises of public relations experts from Switzerland, Italy, United States and Nigeria.
The project advisors include Prof. Francessco Lurati, a professor of Corporate Communications at USI, Switzerland and Prof. David Ravasi, a professor of Management at Bocconi University, Italy.
Others are Prof. Rick Fischer, a professor of Public Relations at University of Memphis, U.S., and Mr Femi Esho, Chief Executive Officer, Gap Minders, a Lagos-based PR firm.