With a history that dates back to 1891 when the British Colonial administration appointed T.A. Wall as the first Director-General of Customs for the collection of inland revenue in Niger Coast Protectorate, it is perhaps the oldest fedeal agency, older than the country with over 130 years in operation.

From inception, the Customs had always been the mainstay of revenue receipts not just to sustain the government but for the execution of projects.
Its reputation as a money spinner attracted special attention to its management and operations from the government and the private sector which came up with a number of schemes and programmes to enhance the collection of revenue from the Service. On the face of it, nothing could be more desirable than measures designed to increase government revenue since everybody stands to benefit. The most far reaching was the preshipment inspection regime introduced in 1996 whereby some private organisations were contracted to inspect goods destined for Nigeria, certify that they meet quality specifications, determine the applicable import duty and issue a Clean Report of Findings to guide the Customs in the collection of duties. Decree No. 10 of 1996 established the inspection of goods before they are shipped outside of Nigeria.
Then came destination inspection of imports policy after pre-shipment inspection was jettisoned. Under the policy, all imports were inspected on arrival into Nigeria. This significantly increased clearance times. Between 1996 and 2000, the federal government toyed with the policy of Professional Import Duty Administrators (PIDA).
The Nigeria Customs Service as it is known today has been the victim of regular intervention and interference as successive governments sought to get private organisations to take over the revenue collection duty with the proclamation that receipts from duties would significantly increase. What is never disclosed is the handsome commission paid to the private organisations.
More concerning for maritime operators and importers is the effect of the multiple roles carved out for companies. Shippers were often weighed down by the prolonged time for the clearing and delivery of goods. Under the preshipment inspection scheme, queries were often raised by officers of the Customs on the report issued by the agencies. In addition to the time taken to conduct the inspection before the goods, it was a nightmare for the business community for whom the extended time taken to conclude a transaction meant huge losses. Steadily, Nigerian ports attained the unenviable reputation of being the most inefficient in the West and Central African sub-region.
The destination inspection scheme which involved the inspection of goods only at the point of arrival held the promise of probably being less cumbersome. But it proved to be worse. Having to rely on the report issued by the companies contracted for the exercise complicated a process that to a large extent made imports more expensive than in neighbouring countries through the demurrage that arose from the regular disagreements with the reports of the private organisations.
As 2024 was winding down, federal officials with Wale Edun, Minister of Finance, led the medly of reports on how the Customs surpassed all expectations in revenue collection by meeting the ambitious target of N5.07 trillion set for it by November. At the end of the year, the figure had hit the N5.1 trillion mark. It will be rather too simple to ascribe the performance to the increase in exchange rate used in determining duties. Agreed that that is one of the factors, but there are more issues involved.
From the days of the convoluted process for the collection of duties and taxes, the appointment of Adewale Bashir Adeniyi as Comptroller-General of the Customs has ushered a chain of events, changes and innovations that altered the trajectory of 133-year old agency. Surrounded by a team of new generation officers schooled in the application of Information and Communication Technology and how it has made trade facilitation and delivery of goods more efficient as well as changed the conduct of international trade and turn around round of cargo movement, the new leadership made the reduction in the impact of human element in the process less decisive. From the wholesale diversion of imports to ports in neighbouring countries, Adeniyi and his team have effected a paradigm shift in import duty administration making it less attractive to patronise other ports.
At Apapa Port Command where Babatunde Olomu held sway, N2.014 trillion was realised, a new high. Similarly, Dera Nnadi at Tin Can Island Port as area controller set a new record with over N1.1 collected in 2024. Altogether, over N5.1 trillion was realised, nearly double the N3.21trillion collected in 2023 when the target of N3.67 trillion was set for the Service.
After decades of efforts through ill-conceived programmes to farm out duty collection to vested interests whose inspiration was to reap from the national till, the story of the Nigeria Customs Service has taken a new and enviable trajectory. With reduced distraction from private organisations representing vested interests, Adeniyi intentionally steered the Customs where gross human elements played crucial roles to a systematic computerisation of the process. It was the product of the the Customs boss’ formative years where he was the anchor person for the Service’s liaison with the World Customs Organization that has been encouraging the adoption of modern and fool-proof platforms for collection of taxes.
An elated Wale Edun has declared that the federal government’s N48 trillion 2025 budget estimate will rely heavily on the contribution from the Customs.
The impressive performance of the Service under Adeniyi’s application of ICT has unravelled the still prevalent inclination in other tiers of government to contract the collection of taxes to private organisations. The private revenue collectors at states and local government areas are not equipped or are they special breeds to do things differently or more efficiently. Farming out such functions ultimately benefit private individuals more than government will realise from the venture. If the Customs is shielded from the balkanisation of its operations to feed vested interests, 2024’s attainments may just be the trigger for greater performances. With Nigeria accounting for two thirds of ship and cargo traffic in the West and Central African sub-region, if most of these pass through Nigeria’s ports, it is possible for the Customs to maintain its trillion revenue receipt not just in naira but in dollars in the coming years.