By Doris Igwe
Corruption festers in Nigeria Customs service due to activities of smugglers in cahoot with local people in the border communities, Public Relations officer of the Service, Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Joseph Attah has said.
Speaking in a chat with TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) he expressed strong disapproval of activities of few bad eggs in the Service who abuse the process of the institution and allow themselves to be corrupt.
He observed that, those in the border, communities who aid and abet smugglers to escape the customs checks are the most corrupt.
Attah warned border community dwellers to desist from giving vital information to smugglers as regards where the customs officers are stationed to aid their escape.
“When we talk of corruption, our experience in the service have shown us that the bigger corruption is even on the side of non customs officers.
“We have seen a situation where these smugglers give people money, buy handsets for people to monitor customs patrol team as informants that will give them clue as to where customs are stationed.
“It is our brothers and sisters that are sabotaging the efforts of the Nigeria customs service.
“All of us have to agree that smuggling is a crime and we should not support them or aid them or even patronize them because if they smuggle and people do not patronize them, then they will not go back and do it.
“When we support or aid smugglers, then we are corrupt as well.”
He said, “I am not going to sit down here and say every customs officer is a saint. What is important is what we do to them when they are caught in the act.
“When such officers are caught, they are being dealt with. Some will be demoted in rank, or dismissed and handed over for prosecution.
On the flip side of it, he asked rhetorically who is corrupting who and for what reason?
“It takes two to tango. The person who is complaining of bribery himself is committing offence.
“The giver, the taker are all offenders, and why are you even giving bribe, it is the fact that you have broken the law, therefore they are all criminals.”
On whether high revenue target given to the service influences hike in prices of goods and services in the country,
he said it depends on the perspective the person promoting the argument is coming from as there are instances where duties are exempted, there are instances were waivers of excise duties are removed totally for locally produced items.
He said in such cases they don’t impact seriously on the prices of goods in the market.
“I think what will skyrocket prices in the market will largely depend on the profit interest of dealers.”
Though he agreed that it could have some little impact, however he said the overall, when such revenue are used by the federal government for providing infrastructure is more.
He said the same revenue is used to carry out other functions like building roads, hospitals, schools and providing other amenities that will make businesses to thrive.
According to him when such amenities are in place, they will make it easy for the business man to transport his goods with ease and also reduce the cost of the movement of goods.
“We don’t set target for ourselves. It is the Federal Government that look at all economic indices and the areas of revenue and how to meet the need of the country, and eventually arives at revenue target considering other factors.
“Once the target is set for the Nigeria Customs Service, it is our duty to try as much as possible to meet the target and if possible surpass it.”
On the impact of covid-19 on the revenue of Nigeria customs service he said as one of the front line agencies in the fight against the pandemic they were also performing assential duties.
He said they have not been affected by the lockdown as it did not prevent them from collecting revenue or fighting smugglers.
“Our job has been going on, there hasn’t been any day or any hour that lockdown has affected customs operation. “Seaports have been functional. The airport may have been affected in terms of international flights which has stopped but the regular ports transactions in the seaports have been going on, hence we are still operating within the same revenue income range.
“Before the Advent of corona virus, the land borders were partially closed to movement of goods, so, that in a way has also helped Nigerians because that action motivated so many Nigerians to go back to farm.”
With respect to customs recruitment, Attah said,
“The customs of today is not the custom that can be manipulated. It is a service that is driven by integrity and therefore not afraid to take bold decisions.
“I want to say without fear of contradiction that you can only get into customs today strictly based on merit.
“Our processes are online and automated. We advertise, invite people for examination, to ensure integrity and transparency, we give the questions to Jamb. “People go to Jamb to do their aptitude test. After the test, it is Jamb that gives the electronic print out. It is not something you can tamper with. “Next is to look at the level of performance and score them. When considering their performance, we take from the top, then they’re invited for interview.
“We were about to invite people for interview before the lockdown and that is why the process is on hold.
“When we recruit, they normally go through examination, physical interview, if the candidate meets all the requirements, he is then documented and given a service number to proceed to the training college.”
He said at the training college they would be drilled for six months in rigorous training before they pass out.
“Then they are posted to their various stations. After some years, they would be called for refresher or specialized courses which is done for about three months.”
Attah also stressed the importance of collective efforts in curbing security challenges in the country.
He further admonished Nigerians to love one another and not to compromise their loyalty to the country in fight against insecurity.
When asked to rate the Nigerian customs compared to other customs in the world, Attah responded,
“I do know that we are doing the best we can given our situation. I do know that in the global custom community, they refer to us, over our examplary role.
“I also do know that in the West and Central Africa, we are leaders and that is why they look up to us for direction, for advice, that is why they come to Nigeria for training.
“We have the regional training center for customs of the West and Central Africa, that clearly demonstrates our leadership role in the sub-region.
