Dogara Calls On Customs Officers To Embrace Patriotism

Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives has called on the Nigeria Customs Service to imbibe the spirit of patriotism to ensure the survival of Nigeria. Dogara made call during the celebration of the International Customs Day on Tuesday in Abuja.
Dogara was represented by the House Deputy Chief Whip, Mr. Paul Iriase. Dogara said in the area of internally generated revenue, if customs did not get it right, Nigeria would be in trouble. “In this drive of internally generated revenue, if customs does not get it right we are going to be in trouble, worst problem than we are in now.
“Everybody knows that the oil that we used to depend on, the price has gone so low that we cannot rely on it.” He said organisations such as customs owed allegiance to Nigeria so that the country could turn on to it in terms of revenue generation. He said if corruption was not tackled in its operations and practice, then Nigeria would not optimise the benefits. “That is why we have advised them to have the spirit of patriotism and help Nigeria to grow out of this current situation.’’ He said that the house was ever ready to support in any way legislatively and politically, adding that the parliament would do everything to ensure that customs was digitalised. “We know that human intervention in processes is roped with a lot of problems, particularly corruptive tendencies. “The e-process will help more than any other thing to fight corruption and that is why this must be embraced in all ramifications.’’ Dogara commended the NCS for its works, adding that “we are impressed and we are watching with keen interest the 3Rs which are reformation, restructure and revenue that you got to bear on customs”. He said that the bulk work on revenue generation was required on customs in this hard time and therefore called for unity for Nigeria to get out of its current situation. The Director-General of NAFDAC, Mr Paul Orhii, said the agency was the first to be integrated into customs Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) programme to enhance service delivery. Orhii commended the service for its efforts in e-customs to better serve the nation. He said the collaboration between the two agencies had boosted service delivery and promised continuous partnership. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that customs stakeholders, FRSC, bank officials and NDLEA representatives were present at the celebration.