By Stephen Ubana
Determined to sustain the impressive revenue collection and anti-smuggling efforts of the Commands under the Lagos Zonal Office may have informed why Mohammed Babandede, an Assistant Comptroller General and the Coordinator, has embarked on a working visit to the Commands to get firsthand information about the challenges faced by them and how best to address problems this 2026 fiscal year.
The ACG. Babandede, the Zonal Coordinator, Customs Zone A, Lagos, who had initiated the working visit on Thursday, February 5, 2026, was said to have taken him to Apapa Command, which has Compt. Emmanuel Oluwadare Oshoba as the Area Controller, Tin-Can Island, Kirikiri Lighter Terminal Phases I and II, among others.
ACG. Babandede was said to have used the opportunity provided by the familiarisation visit to the Apapa Command to commend the officers for their exceptional contribution to the 2025 Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) impressive total revenue collection of N7.28 trln. He was said to have also given kudos to the Command for its spectacular contraband seizures in its anti-smuggling operations during the 2025 trading year.
Addressing the officers and men of the Command during the visit, the Lagos Customs Zonal Coordinator, who could not hide his feelings, was said to have made them understand that “the purpose of the visit was to acknowledge the operational challenges faced by the Command and how best to improve on it, appreciate its notable achievements and further boost the morale of the personnel who have consistently helped the Command to surpass its yearly revenue expectations despite the sharp drop in the volume of cargo traffic through the premier port because of global economic challenges and fluctuations in the country’s foreign exchange market.”
The Command was said to have collected a total sum of N2.93 trln, as against the N2.5 trln that was said to have been set for it by the Customs Headquarters, under the close watch of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, who incidentally is the Chairman of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), described in Customs circles as one of the highest annual revenue performances by any Customs formation in the country in 2025.
The no-nonsense ACG, who was said to have made mockery of the narcotic importers turned smugglers and the gunrunners at the Port Harcourt Area II Command, Onne, as the then Area Controller, by taking advantage of the declaration of a state of emergency at the port by Adeniyi, the Customs Comptroller General, had given kudos to Compt. Oshoba and his enforcement officers for the significant seizures of narcotics and other illicit drugs, including cocaine and tramadol, describing these interceptions and seizures at the premier port as “critical contributions to national security, public health and societal safety.” He was said to have sounded it loud and clear to the officers that effective enforcement remains fundamental “to creating a secure environment for legitimate trade to thrive.”
While noting that the core responsibilities of the Service extend beyond revenue collection to include national security, public safety and trade facilitation, the Lagos Zonal Coordinator of the NCS, who could not hide his feelings, was said to have also commended the Command for “its effective inter-agency collaboration” and urged the officers to deepen collaboration with other sister agencies, particularly in the deployment of officers and promotion of trade facilitation tools that will position the Service at an upper-class operating level that will compare with other notable Customs administrations within the 187 member countries of the WCO.
The Customs Zonal Coordinator may have given the Apapa Command officers a cause to worry and reevaluate themselves when he stressed “the importance of integrity, reputational management, mentorship and capacity building within the Command,” without dragging the name of the Service to the mud.
Appealing to the senior officers to transfer knowledge and experience to the younger generation of officers, while also drawing attention to the importance of officers’ welfare and good health, he disclosed that “drug tests would be conducted across Commands soon,” advising officers “to remain health-conscious for effective service delivery.”
In apparent reaction to the Zonal Coordinator’s remarks, Compt. Oshoba, who had received the ACG and his entourage at the Command premises on arrival, had expressed appreciation for the visit, describing it as motivational, assuring him of the Command’s commitment “to sustaining its impressive revenue collection, enforcement and trade facilitation drive, and to further improve on its inter-agency collaboration and ethical conduct in strict adherence to the Customs Act 2023, passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by deceased former President Muhammadu Buhari.”
Isah Suleiman, a Chief Superintendent of Customs and the Apapa Command spokesperson, who had captured every detail of the Zonal Coordinator’s visit to the Command, may have spoken the mind of the Area Controller when he noted that it was a timely visit, as it had immediately begun to have effect on the officers at the terminals, going by the way they now scrutinise documents to ensure that the right thing is done.
Enough of ACG. Babandede’s interactions with the officers and men of the Apapa Command during his recent visit, which had challenged them in their service delivery. We turn to the ACG’s visit to KLT Command.
The Command Area Controller, Deputy Comptroller Bolaji Lukman Adigun, who may not be in the class of Compt. Oshoba or Frank Onyeka, whose Commands had hit the trillion-naira revenue collection mark in 2025, but had given his word to the Customs Coordinator, Zone A, Lagos, of the Command’s commitment to improved revenue collection this 2026, enforcement and trade facilitation, pledging to align all activities with the broader vision of the NCS.
The ACG may have carried the same message of urging the officers at the Apapa Command about the importance of discipline, dedication to duties, integrity and teamwork in performing their duties to KLT, amidst applause.
Given the increased smuggling of narcotics through the nation’s seaports into the country, as security had been tightened at the nation’s land borders with Niger Republic, Benin and the Central African country of Cameroon, may have informed why he had encouraged the officers “to stay vigilant, adapt to evolving trade and border management challenges through the sea, follow procedures urgently and promote motivation and accountability in all operations.”
The ACG reviewed the Command’s revenue operations, enforcement activities and stakeholder management, and interacted with the officers, but observed that its daily operations still require guidance and strengthening to enhance the Command’s performance and service delivery.
The Customs Acting Comptroller, who had described the ACG’s visit to the Command as “a defining moment in its operations,” had said that the Customs Coordinator’s advice and observations about the Command’s daily operations would help sharpen its operational focus and enhance service delivery standards.
It was not surprising why he had said that the Command under his leadership would continue to improve its operations, support the activities of the NCS and safeguard the national economy while facilitating legitimate trade. Vintage ACG. Babandede.
