Seme Customs Boosts Welfare with COWA Operational Office, Senior Officers’ Mess
THECONSCIENCE NG reports that the Nigeria Customs Service, Seme Command on Monday commissioned some key infrastructure projects to enhance welfare and operational efficiency of officers at the border Command.
An operational office for Customs Wives Association (COWA) Seme Chapter, a brand new officers’ Mess and a gym to keep officers and Men in shape, were commissioned by the Customs Comptroller-General, CG Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
Welcoming the CGC to the commissioning, was the Seme Area Controller, Dr Ben Oramalugo who spoke glowingly about the CGC and the importance of the projects built to add impetus and operational efficiency to the officers at Seme Customs.
Dr Oramalugo noted that the commissioning of projects was strategic and consistent with what the CGC stands for.
His words:”This is a landmark event for our command, and we are deeply honoured to have the Controller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi to personally grace this occasion, to commission this remarkable project.”
Oramalugo said the CGC’s presence is a testament to his unwavering commitment to the welfare of officers and progress of Nigeria Customs Service.
“I on behalf of the entire Seme Command, say a resounding thank you. Today’s event is more than the unveiling of physical structures. It is a celebration of our resolved commitment to teamwork, dedication, and the shared vision of Nigeria Customs Service under the leadership of CGC Adeniyi.
While Commissioning the projects, the CG said, “I am indeed very proud of you, Dr. Oramalugo, the thing about what you said, giving equal opportunity to everybody and ensuring that fairness drives our decisions and our strategic choices and that we give merits in everything we do, has been my primary motivating factor. I also see myself as a product of merits, I see myself as a product of fairness and I must say that I have enjoyed the grace of God.
And when that happens, you really owe God that obligation to be fair to everybody and to ensure that you give merits a chance in what you do. That has been my motivating factor. So irrespective of where you come from, whether your forefathers were among those who came to Badagry in 1752 or not, if we find you very, very capable of being here, we will send you here.”
“So let me not speak from history. Let me pick it up from geography. And that is the strategic location of Seme, which has been like that since 1914 after the amalgamation of north and southern Nigeria.
If you delve further into how important the strategic location would be, you all know that small lagoon across where we have the bridge in Gbaji. Just a few meters outside it, to the right of it, was where we established the first Customs post in Nigeria. History has it that the Hawk Sentinel, that’s the name of the vessel, first berthed there.
And that was where we have the first sets of customs officers who were there to monitor and collect duties of coast-wide trade. There was nothing like an Apapa port. There was nothing like the Tincan port or whatever.
And it was because the kind of vessels that were coming are those ones that can only approach us through the lagoon. And so historically, the ecosystem that we have around Seme has been a very historical milestone for us in Nigeria
