His appointment may go down in history as the least controversial and the one that came with the least mudslinging that is usually associated with appointments of the Comptroller General, Customs. The rise to the topmost echelon by Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko as the Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service is perhaps the least tortuous in recent time.
His appointment may go down in history as the least controversial and the one that came with the least mudslinging that is usually associated with appointments of the Comptroller General, Customs. The rise to the topmost echelon by Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko as the Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service is perhaps the least tortuous in recent time.
Upon his appointment as the Customs boss, it was said variously that Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko got it because he was highly favoured far and above both his seniors and contemporaries, having only about two years before then been promoted from the Seme border command where he was area controller to the rank of an assistant comptroller general (ACG) of Customs.
He is indeed highly favoured, because Dikko was not the most senior ACG, there were (at that time) at least five others ahead of him. This is not to talk of the three deputy comptrollers general; all of whom were sidelined to make way for his elevation.
Despite all odds, Alhaji Dikko still emerged as the favourite of the presidency ahead of (even his) seniors who had been controllers before he even became a controller. His emergence remains the least problematic, breaking a 21- year jinx of a usually rancorous process of choosing a Customs boss. We however hasten to stress that this is not to say that he is not qualified for the job.
It is hereby recalled that by his appointment, many senior and management officers of the service were shown the way out of service, albeit prematurely. These include scores of comptrollers, many assistant comptrollers general and all the deputy comptrollers general.
Disregard for seniority in the appointment of Comptroller General of Customs has been a recurring issue since the exit of Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha. His successor Elder Jacob Gyang Buba was appointed from the rank of assistant comptrollers general, so also was Buba’s successor, Alhaji Hamman Bello Ahmed. These two were made instant substantive Comptrollers General.
The appointment of Dr Bello Mohammed in 1988 as the sixth Customs boss was on account of the fierce battle for succession. The appointment of his successor; Brig. General Samuel Ango in 1994 as the Sole Administrator also came about as result of the intense fight between top officers.
The traditional fight also continued immediately news filtered out that Ango was to be removed. Eventually Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu Mustapha emerged as the eight Customs Comptroller General. He served between 1999 and 2003.
Because, the Federal Government was not quite prepared for his exit, it had problems appointing a substantive successor. This led to the interregnum of about five months during which Deputy Comptroller General Tayo Ogungbemile stood in as the acting Comptroller General.
Then came Jacob Gyang Buba as substantive Comptroller General between 2004 and 2008; paving way for the emergence of Hamman Bello Ahmed whose exit made it possible for Dr Bernard-Shaw Nwadialo to be appointed as acting Comptroller General.
When he was appointed about five years ago, this newspaper had expected that Dikko would succeed in the task of engendering a new Customs Service for Nigeria. This is because the Nigeria Customs Service needs proper diagnosis and subsequent prescription and possible surgery.
It si true that Many CGs have come and gone and most (with little exception of the tenure of Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha) have paid lip service to the issue of welfare of officers and professionalism .
We then thought that the starting point for the new Customs helmsman would be to pay critical attention to these issues.
An officer who is sure of a good salary, good education and health facilities for his family may be less corrupt than the one who earns poor salary, and who is not sure of how to pay his children’s school fees and is not sure of how the house rent will be paid.
Many CGs have come and said wonderful things about 48 hour cargo delivery, they have paid lip service to trade facilitation, yet they did very little to ensure that Customs officers desist from undue inference in cargo clearance. The Customs processes of getting cargoes released from the ports are too cumbersome and officers take advantage of this.
On these expectations, we dare say that Alhaji Dikko Abdualhi Inde will score a pass mark. Though, it appeared lime a tall order in 2009 when he emerged, we think that he has done well in the area of professionalising the Customs, he hasn’t also done badly in the area of staff welfare and good salary, he may not have impressed everyone in the anti-corruption fight, but many will agree that the Customs officer of today is more afraid of the consequences of being caught that he was pre-2009.
Whether he is removed today or he stays until he is 60 years old in or has put in 35 years, Dikko will still be credited with restoring the lost glory of the Nigeria Customs Service as a technical agency in revenue collection.
Those who have accused the media in the battle to replace the Customs number one man, forget that the media (like other stakeholders) can not isolate itself from the failures and successes of any administration. Afterall, the media sets agenda as well.
In the opinion of a group: “It is very sad that most of the Resident Reporters in our seaports, airports and border stations spend their precious time writing about the removal or continued stay in office of some Government officials e.g. the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) instead of engaging themselves in issues that will help the advancement of our international trade and ports administration”.
Correct, but groups like the one quoted above contribute more to the downfall of administrations by being more sycophantic than altruistic in their positions and the advises that they offer to the chief executive, than the media.
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