By Stephen Ubana
Barely one week after Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada, an Assistant Comptroller and the spokesperson of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), took his colleagues to Bayero University for the 2025 Public Relations (PR) Workshop which was said to have attracted communication experts, PR gurus, and academics both within and outside the country. The NCS was said to have won the Global Award for Innovative PR at the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Gala Night in Accra, the capital of the West African country of Ghana.
There is no gainsaying the fact that since Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, the Customs Comptroller General and a one-time Customs National Public Relations Officer, spotted the talent of AC Maiwada as a young officer and spokesperson of Ogun 1 Command, Idiroko, in the home state of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, where he had risen to the enviable rank of Assistant Comptroller and Head of the Unit attached to the office of ACG, Customs Headquarters—he has taken the Nigeria Customs PR to another level.
Many believe that Maiwada has elevated it to a level where professionalism, resilience, and innovation in projecting the Service’s image and building stronger trust with stakeholders now count. This impactful management of the NCS PR appears to have been recognized by the International Public Relations Association and could no longer be ignored.
A statement by the office of the Customs PR Unit in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), indicates that the winning entry for the Golden World Awards Gala Night in Accra, Ghana, was a publication authored by Image Promotion Limited. It was said to have documented the Customs Comptroller General’s progressive communication strategies, which have since evolved into a strategic framework for public relations scholarship in Nigeria.
According to Philip Shepard, Secretary-General of IPRA, the publication provides practical strategies for organizations and further showcases real-life applications of PR leadership drawn from the reforms of Adeniyi, the CGC.
Receiving the award on behalf of the NCS, AC Maiwada, who could not hide his feelings, expressed profound appreciation to the IPRA leadership and members for “the recognition” of being qualified for the Golden Award, stating that “it would further reinforce the Service’s vision for institutional credibility and proactive communication.”
He said this to the applause of colleagues and invited dignitaries, which included former President John Dramani of Ghana, noting that the award is a validation of the NCS’s commitment “to professionalism, transparency, and stakeholder management.”
An elated AC Maiwada declared in the hall, filled with dignitaries, that under the leadership of CGC Adeniyi, the Service PR Unit has “repositioned communication as a strategic tool for reform and trust-building.”
He recalled that in 2024, the Service had been honoured with the prestigious GWA for crisis communication at the IPRA Gala Night in Belgrade, Serbia, stating that the 2025 award builds on that feat, highlighting the NCS’s consistent innovation in communication and reputation management.
Maiwada said that the award ceremony formed part of the public relations knowledge-sharing conference held from Wednesday, September 31, 2025, to Friday, October 2, 2025, at the Accra International Conference Centre. The 2025 IPRA Conference, themed “PR: Global Realities and Innovative Communication,” featured discussions that were said to have received exhaustive treatment by communication experts and professionals across the African continent, including Ike Neliaku, President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), and Arik Karani, President of the African Public Relations Association (APRA), to name but a few.
Giving his remarks at the closing session of the high-profile IPRA event on Friday, October 2, 2025, the Ghanaian President, who had made a moving speech at the 80th General Assembly meeting of the United Nations in New York, United States, urged PR professionals “to uphold the highest standards of ethics and competence in their practice.”
He was emphatic that as communicators, they hold the power “to shape narratives and influence public trust.” He did not hesitate to tell participants at the IPRA Conference in his home country, Ghana, that the African continent “needs professionals who communicate with integrity, clarity, and purpose to support national development.”
Vice President Jane Nana, who spoke on the same podium as President Dramani, congratulated all the awardees, commending their contributions to advancing strategic communication globally.
The IPRA Gala Night was said to have come to a close with the assumption of office by Esther Amba Numaba Cobbah, President of the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana, as the new President of IPRA. She succeeded Natasa Pavlovic Bujas.
Her emergence as the IPRA President makes her the first African to lead the 70-year-old global association, described as a milestone and a moment of pride for the continent’s communication professionals.
