The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, on Monday said the organisation had spent over N70bn on several corporate social responsibility projects executed across the country in less than two years.
Adeniyi disclosed this in Modakeke, Osun State, while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the commissioning of the renovated Ife Girls High School, Ile-Ife, Osun State, a CSR project executed by the NCS.
The Customs boss said the organisation had identified educational facilities in several schools across the country where interventions such as the renovation project could help improve learning environments and make education more attractive to young people.
He noted that funds for the implementation of the CSR initiative were drawn from the salaries of its operatives, adding that every Customs officer in the country had committed to donating a quarter of their annual salary to fund CSR projects.
“It was quite a sum that we have expended on the projects. I am happy that for the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Nigeria Customs Service, every Customs Officer we have committed to donating a quarter of our yearly salary to these projects.
“Last year, our budget for CSR into this was in the region of N70 billion, and from there we are able to commit what we have done in this school. You are all products of one school or the other and you don’t want to get to your school and see the level of infrastructural decay we met in this school.
“It is a challenge for all of us, and we have to take that as a responsibility. It is practically impossible for the government to do it all alone. The budget they have for education will not support this kind of renovation. Like-minded people, Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs), charitable organisations, and foundations will have to prioritise education as it concerns infrastructure,” Adeniyi said.
Speaking on the factors considered before the school where the project was sited was picked, Adeniyi said the school used to be a thriving female secondary school before it experienced infrastructural decay.
He described the level of decay before the NCS intervention as appalling, adding that the “Practical example was when we entered the laboratory we pursued squirrels and snakes before we can gain access. This is because was the whole place was bushy.
“Female children are particularly more necessary to us because of their special needs. I grew up in this community and this used to be a thriving female secondary school. We have them in their thousands and we are beginning to see a gradual reduction in number of enrollment in this school and as at the time we check before our intervention it was something around 200.
“This school is 60 years old we felt that we need to do this intervention so that girl-child education will be given the important place it deserves and I am happy that all other stakeholders are beginning to see that. This includes the old girls association, Osun State government and the Ooni of Ife.”
In her remarks, the school principal, Mrs Akinremi Iyabo, lauded the Nigeria Customs Service for the initiative and assured that the facilities would be properly maintained.
