Joseph Nnamocha [PRO Apapa Chapter ANLCA]
Joseph Nnamocha [PRO Apapa Chapter ANLCA]
The issue of corruption is not limited to Customs alone, every sector and government agencies are also involved. We all know that corruption in Nigeria is a problem because from the top government establishment and officials, there is corruption which we all know about but in the case of the Nigeria Customs, we know that an average Nigeria importer do not come out with the right declarations of his imports and that brings about corruption in the system. If the importer can give 100% declaration of his consignment, I don’t think there will corruption in the system on the part of the customs because if the importers are transparent enough with what they import I don’t think the customs will be corrupt as people assume them to be. So I think there is the need to sensitize the importers so that they can come out with the true declaration of their goods.
Jude Maduka [Chairman NAGAFF TCIP]
In all sincerity, talking about corruption in Nigeria Customs Service I must say that with the inception of the current administration of Comptroller General of Customs Alhaji Abdulahi Dikko Inde, corruption in the NCS has reduced drastically because of some of his policies and welfare packages for officers in the service. But there is still need to do more to that effect and we know that some men of the NCS are also in the business which is not healthy in anyway for freight forwarders and I believe that the management of the customs should also wade into that aspect to fish out those customs officers that are trying to take over our jobs because there is a lot of danger in doing that and it is obvious that they will hold you to ransom to get to the importer and it is a problem in the system, I feel the management of NCS should look into that area and try to fish out the bad eggs in other to stop or reduce corruption.
Chukwumalu Emeka [Stakeholder]
Everybody is corrupt as far as the country is concerned and we cannot say that the Nigeria Customs is corrupt when we all know that it is applicable in every sector of the economy. But there is the need for customs to undergo a lot of reform because to limit corruption from the NCS the federal government must be involved in the whole thing as it affects the port business and the country in general. The best way to curb the issue of corruption in the system is that during the recruitment stage, they should involved youths from the six geopolitical zones of the country and not from a particular region as we have it now because most of them in service are loyal to their superior because of the connection involved in recruitment process. There is need to recruit Yoruba, Hausa Igbo, Edo, Delta, Ijaw, Calabar, Fulani and every other tribe to be in the system because the corruption that we are talking about starts from the top and as it is now, if the customs wants to recruit people they carry out a clandestine recruitment in order to get some of their people involved in the sharp practices that we are talking about.
Prince Bola Adesokan(Chairman, ANLCA PTML chapter )
I don’t agree with that, where is corruption in this industry? There is no corruption anymore in the Nigeria Customs Service compared to when I came into the service in 1970. As from 1980 down to date, I can tell you now that corruption in the system has been wiped out with the effective performance of the number one man in customs, Comptroller General Abdullahi Inde Dikko who has played a major impact of wiping off corruption in the Customs, not to talk of our president, Prince Olayiwola Shittu who has been doing reputable things to curb corruption in the Industry.
Mr Stanley Ezenga (NAGAFF)
I don’t agree that Nigeria customs is corrupt because Nigeria customs officers are Nigerians and if Nigerians are corrupt of course customs are also corrupt and if Nigerians are not corrupt, then customs are not corrupt, for instance if you give a Nigerian police bribe, they will surely collect it, but if you don’t, they won’t take it from you. Nigeria Customs officers are corrupt, believe it or not customs deal with individuals who are Nigerians and if Nigeria as a whole is corrupt, customs cannot be an exception; unless we start with everybody in Nigeria then we go ahead with customs but to start with customs alone, I don’t think it will work. And for curbing corruption in Nigeria, there should be punishment for corrupt officers.
Mr Dipo Olayokun(Media Consultant)
I agree that there is corruption in the Nigeria Customs Service; just like everywhere in the Nigeria sphere. Corruption in the Nigeria Customs Service cannot be taken in isolation, it is either we should be talking about how to wipe out corruption totally in the Nigeria society, I think what we need to do is to enforce the laws that are enacted to fight corrupt practices. Don’t forget that since the new management of customs came into place, they have been able to work out a salary package for the men and officers in the customs thinking that this will reduce the tendency for corruption. But I have come to believe that corruption is still a trend in the face of this new salary package. Definitely there is something wrong with the attitude of an average Nigerian, the only means of fighting corruption in the customs or anywhere is when somebody is caught then he or she faces the music.
Ugochukwu Nnadi (Deputy President, NAGAFF)
You cannot treat corruption independently from Nigeria, so if you want to talk of corruption in the customs you have to first of all treat corruption in Nigeria, it cannot be tackled alone, solving the problem has to start from the Presidency to the Senate, the House of Assembly, to the judiciary and you continue to narrow it down to other areas, if you think you can single out a particular part of the economy and decide to eliminate corruption from there, you will probably get it wrong because corruption goes all the way up, tackling corruption in the custom is therefore a waste of time. There has to be a determined effort by the government at the highest level to tackle corruption, to do this they must ensure that relevant laws are put in place to eradicate corruption.
Chief P.C Shedrack (Freight forwarder)
Personally I don’t see anything wrong in a custom officer running a clearing outfit, provided he is able to keep a balance between the two jobs and one does not disturb the other, but I agree with you that there is corruption in the customs, when you pay everything they asked you to pay, they will still demand for their personal settlement from you and this is part of corruption, there is corruption everywhere and the only way to stop it is to start from the top, but our problem here in Nigeria is that when you put up a law there is nobody to enforce it, they just sit down somewhere and say this is how it’s going to be, but at the end of the day there is no enforcement, how can you checkmate the law like this? When you start implementing with the people at the top, definitely the ones below will buckle up and they will not want to fall into the same pit.
Sampson Chima (Registrar, NIS)
Corruption has become the order of the day especially at the helms of affairs in this country, I know that the government is doing a lot so that they can reduce the scourge, in the case of an ex-custom officer who was recently accused of having properties that an average civil servant of his rank supposed not to posses, this could be termed as corruption and it must also be investigated to confirm how he came to have such properties considering his salary, we are aware that most of them have companies they run even though it is against the civil service instructions. To put an end to corruption in the service, there must be a lot of checkmating, government should put a lot of things in place to make sure that the assets of the officers are checked, just like its being done in the other sectors.
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