After 40 years of the initial construction of the Tin Can Island Port (TCIP), Customs administrative building, the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi on Tuesday commissioned its reconstruction and other two new facilities in Lagos.
At the commissioning, Adeniyi noted that the new look of the command would be celebrated at the NCS 2024 end-of-year awards.
Also, he commended other Area controllers, who decided to prioritise the event and encouraged them to always engage stakeholders.
The comptroller general said: “I commend Comptroller Dera Nnadi and all his men for the initiative of getting this done. When he told me about it, I never knew that it was such a gigantic project. I just thought that they to put some brushes here and there.
“But from what I have seen physically and from the video I have seen, this is an award-winning project. The award for the Nigeria Customs Service in 2024, which was supposed to have taken place two weeks ago, will now take place in two days’ time.
However, he underscored the need for more collaborations between Customs and other agencies of government as well as freight forwarders, terminal operators, and shipping companies, among others.
Adeniyi added: “When we leave here, I’m also going to the Murtala-Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) for something similar to this, which they have also put together.”
The Customs Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Dera Nnadi said that the renovation was beyond mere aesthetics or upgrading physical infrastructure, noting that the development was a clear statement of intent that reinforces the comptroller general’s policy focus on collaboration, consolidation, and innovation.
He added that a well-maintained office complex ensures that officers continue to provide exceptional service and achieve greater results in their core functions of revenue generation and trade facilitation.
Nnadi explained: “As we celebrate the unveiling of this renovated facility, we must recognize the historical context of this transformation. Since the inception of this Command in 1977, no major renovation has been undertaken to update and modernize the office complex.
“For decades, our officers have worked diligently within the confines of outdated infrastructure, and today, we witness a transformation that will no longer be just a reflection of the past, but a symbol of the future – a future that is modern, efficient, and committed to service excellence.
“It is important to note that our work here at Tin Can Island Port goes beyond infrastructure; we are deeply committed to the economic growth of Nigeria.”
The comptroller noted that the command had made remarkable strides in revenue generation, noting that it had generated over N1.1 trillion, a historic figure collected in a single year and over 43 per cent more than the entire 2023 revenue of N639 billion.
