Tin Can Customs Gains Ascendency in Revenue Generation, Trade Facilitation,

Funso Olojo

Revenue generation, trade facilitation and anti-smuggling are the core functions of the Nigeria Customs Service.

While the Federal Operations Units have the core mandate to fight smuggling, the regular commands of Customs take revenue generation and trade facilitation seriously as their statutory duties.

However, while most of the commands have relegated trade facilitation to the background in their quest to optimise their revenue performances, the Tin Can Island Customs command, in recent times, has combined the two roles with admirable ease.

Ironically, the Command has enhanced its trade facilitation role to boost its revenue performance.

Under the leadership of its present Area Controller Musa Baba Abdullahi, the Command has restructured the cargo clearance procedures to achieve effectiveness and efficiency by creating enabling environment for ease of doing business.

Since his arrival at the command in February 2nd, 2018, as its area Controller, Abdullahi Musa has re-invented the wheel of customs clearance procedures to gain ascendency in revenue performance.

The reforms he introduced have resulted to triple action results, namely: meteoric rise in revenue generation, stimulation of business environment and sanitisation of the environment of thuggery and infractions of guidelines on clearing procedures.

The half year report of 2019 which the command recently released lends credence to the effectiveness of the reforms.

According to the figures, the Command raked in N197.28billion within the first six months of the year.

A comparative analysis of the figures with two corresponding previous half years reports of 2017 and 2018 further confirmed the geometric rise in the revenue performance of the command.

In 2017, the Command had N137.03billion while it garnered N172.51 billion in 2018.

In each of these years under review, the Command had posted impressive revenue hauls, raising the bar in revenue performance.

The full revenue reports of three previous years of 2016, 2017 and 2018 showed ascending performance in revenue generation.

While it collected N256.426billion in 2016, the Command realised N287.6billion and N343.5billion in 2017 and 2018 respectively, achieving about 97 percent success rate in relation to the revenue target for each of the years under review.
With the half year haul of N197.275billion in 2019 which is the 52.28 percent of the total revenue target of N342billion, one can safely conclude that the command will better its previous performances, given its geometric rise in revenue performance each year.

It is instructive to note that the ascending revenue hauls being made by the Command was done admist various challenges of infrastructural deficits such as the collapsed port access roads and the attendant intractable traffic gridlock that has seriously affected port operations.

But this does not deter the clinical operational efficiency of the men and officers of the command to pull off this feat.

What then is the magic wand of Controller Musa Baba Abdullahi to achieve ascendency in revenue generation in the midst of daunting challenges.

Uche Ejesieme, the Public Relations Officer of the Command, gives an insight into the unique style of his Controller that has been responsible for this revenue hauls.

“Controller Musa has a bias for ICT and as a result, he keeps tab on all declarations himself through the system to ensure that all declarations are in line with both the fiscal and monetary policies of the Federal Government.

‘ Once he suspects any infraction, he immediately flags such declaration and directs the review of such suspicious declaration.

” Through this method , DN is raised where applicable and this has allowed us to recover revenue that would have been lost”, Ejesieme declared.

As a result of the personal touch of Controller Musa, officers are always on their toes and wary of colluding with unscrupulous importers and their agents to circumvent the system.

“Any officer caught in an compromising act meant to subvert the revenue collection of the command is always dealt with.

“So this has reduced the incidence of revenue leakages as officers are being careful” the image maker further explained.

In his efforts to create an enabling environment to facilitate legitimate trade, Uche stated that the Controller has made it clear to all officers not to constitute impediments in the documentation and clearance process of goods.

“No officer is allowed to seat unnecessarily on any document. If an officer could not treat a particular entry , he is under obligation to pass it to a superior officer for prompt action.

“This has ensured that documentation process is not delayed at the command and thus has helped to fast tracked clearing process “Uche stated.

Any defaulting officer faces the consequences of his action.

“If it is found out that the delay by an officer eventually results to demurrage on the affected cargo, such officer is made to pay such demurrage”, the command’s spokesperson declared.

This measure has therefore led to seamless cargo clearance procedures at the command as no officer is prepared to fall victim of the attendant consequences for any infraction.

To boost the confidence of the trading public that uses the command, there is a feedback mechanism which the Controller and his team instituted to gauge the mood of their clients through their complaints.

This mechanism includes regular engagement with stakeholders, dispute resolution committee, time release study and help desk.

“We listen to their complaints, process them and use them to further improve on our services”, declared Esejieme.

These measures, claimed the image maker, have made the command a customer-friendly one which has ultimately turned it to a preferred destination for importers and their agents.

Just like importers have found the command desirable to transact business due to its conducive atmosphere , exporters have equally found the need to use the command to ply their trade.

Due to the full automation of Export procedures which engenders fast and seamless transactions, the Command has continued to also record impressive performance in this regard.

During the period under review , the Command recorded 150,930.7 Metric Tonnes of Export with FOB Value of N68.89billion.

Even though, the Command has made conscious efforts to facilitate trade, its management however does not lose sight of the tendency of some unscrupulous elements who may want to attempt to use this channel to bring in prohibited goods.

As a result, the officers of the command have been primed to ever be vigilant in this regard.

This has led to series of seizures of prohibited items in the past, including the 4x20ft containers of banned goods made during the period under review, with duty paid value of N1.159billion.

The Command may have been impressive in its performance during the periods under review, but its management seems to be thirsty for further improvement in their operations.

This is why Ejesieme said the command will continue to improve on its services to serve its teaming customers better.

“The Command will continue to strive for excellence in achieving the mandate of the Comptroller General of Customs, Col Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and his able Management.

“In the same vein, efforts will remain in top gear towards the removal of Bureaucratic bottlenecks and impediments in the trade value chain. Our ultimate aim is not just to key into the Presidential Directives on Ease of Doing Business which is in line with World Customs Organization’s (WCO) Trade Facilitation Agenda but to be seen as being at the Vanguard of trade facilitation.

Subsequent events will justify this solemn pledge.