Customs pledges support for Nigeria’s $1trn economy target

The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, has pledged the full support of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the realisation of Nigeria’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy.

He also stressed the need for institutions to translate national aspirations into concrete, measurable results.

The Customs boss made the commitment Tuesday, while delivering a keynote address at the New Nigeria Festival at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Conference Hall, Abuja, saying the economic target was achievable if the plans and strategies developed to achieve it were properly implemented.

He said the Customs had moved beyond ideas and discussions to taking practical steps in support of the national economic ambition, citing the Service’s ongoing Modernisation Reforms, including the deployment of B’Odogwu, the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme and the Advance Ruling mechanism, as initiatives designed to facilitate legitimate trade, improve predictability in the trading environment and ultimately strengthen revenue generation.

“Execution is nothing if it is not concrete. We have to move from ideas to action and ensure that whatever we plan translates into results. That is how we can begin to see the kind of transformation we are talking about.” He said.

Adeniyi stressed that the responsibility for achieving the $1 trillion economy could not rest solely on government agencies, noting that the target required the collective commitment of institutions, businesses and citizens.

He said the Customs Service, by virtue of its responsibilities in revenue collection, trade facilitation and border management, remained strategically positioned to contribute to the country’s economic transformation.

CGC Adeniyi therefore called for a shift from rhetoric to implementation, stressing that the country’s economic ambition could be achieved only when institutions and citizens alike took ownership of their responsibilities and turned plans into practical, measurable action.