Funso Olojo
The Zone ‘A’ commands of the Nigeria Customs service plays a pivotal role in the functions of the Nigeria Customs Service.
The zone, which comprises Apapa port, Tin Can Port, Kirikiri Lighter Terminal(KLT), PTML, Lilypond,Seme border, Ogun (Idiroko border),MMIA, Western Marine, Oyo/Osun and Ondo/Ekiti, apart from being the largest , contributes more than 70 per cent to revenue –generation, trade facilitation and the anti-smuggling roles of the Customs.
These commands have areas of comparative advantages over one another due to the areas of operations and type of goods they specialize in.
While the port commands in Lagos have a comparative advantage in revenue generation due to their specialty in handling containerized goods which account for over 60 per cent of the annual total revenue of the Nigeria Customs Service, the land border commands are way ahead in anti-smuggling activities.
However, both the port and land border commands facilitate trade.
Apart from the Zone’s Federal Operation Unit of the service at Ikeja ,Lagos which core function is to fight smugglings within the Zone, both Seme and Idiroko border commands of the service contribute significant impetus to the anti-smuggling function of the Service.
Successive Customs administrations have therefore focused more on the land borders commands with strong back up from the FOU to wage relentless wars against smuggling.
Consequently, successive Customs high commands strive to provide adequate equipment such as vehicles for patrol, helicopters for aerial surveillance and other logistics supports for these specialized commands.
However, apart from the provision of these logistics supports by the Customs High command, the Service needs capable, efficient, fearless, committed and dedicated officers who are thorough-bred professionals to drive the anti-smuggling campaign of the agency.
These are the men and officers who confront and engage the dare-devil smugglers in bloody battles in lonely bush paths where, more often than not, both sides record casualties.
The present Customs helmsman, Col.(rtd) Hameed Ali, acknowledges this much when he instituted a reward system not only to recognize the gallantry of some of these officers who stake their lives in the fight against smugglers, but encourage and spur them in the campaign as well as stimulate similar performance from other officers.
At Idiroro command of the Service, the Command’s administration led by the Area Controller, Sani Madugu, is not hiding his gratitude and admiration for its crack anti- smuggling team to which he attributed the soaring successes of the command in its anti-smuggling activities.
Magudu told whoever cares to listen that he owes the spiraling numbers of seizures recently made and currently being made to the efforts and abilities of this team which is led by a highly efficient but non-assuming CSC Jamairi.
The CAC has every course to beam with satisfaction going by the recent anti- smuggling activities of the command, which is one of the most critical land borders, behind Seme border.
The Command, in recent times, has recorded a total numbers of 737 seizures with Duty Paid Value(DPV) of 1,240,446,054 while it grossed a princely sum of 5billion as revenue in the first 10 months of the year.
CAC Madugu could not hide his feelings about the success story of his anti- smuggling team when he openly brandished the achievements of the command to Dahiru Mohammed Aminu, the ACG, Zone ‘A’ who recently paid a courtesy visit to the command.
An elated Madugu openly identified CSC Jamairi as the brain behind these spectacular seizures.
He confessed to the ACG that of the entire 1,400 bags of 50kg rice seizure brought by all the combined anti-smuggling teams in one week, only 100 bags did not have the authoritative stamp of Jamairi as he was the brain behind more than 90 per cent of the total seizures recently recorded by the command.
“Jamairi brought in all the bags of rice seizure here except for 100. There is no week without seizure from that officer. All the 17 ‘Okada’ seizures paraded here and vehicles were brought in by his teams. I don’t know what to do for him, but we are making out plans to recommend him to Abuja for special consideration’’ he disclosed.
At another forum, the CAC showcased the ingenuity of Jamairi in anti-smuggling war.
“This brand new 2017 Hilux vehicle seizure is just coming in and was made by the team led by this young man’’, apparently referring to Jamairi.
‘’ The vehicle is worth over N18m and was brought in through unapproved route to avoid paying duty to the Federal Government’’, the CAC said.
‘’His team also recorded seizure of about 1,360 bags of (50kg) rice alone within the spate of two weeks, that is, excluding about five vehicles fully loaded with rice and other contraband goods.’’, he declared.
Due to the heroic performance of this young officer, the Idiroko Command appointed him as the coordinator of all the enforcement units created to engage the deadly smugglers in battles.
CSC Jamairi was no stranger to anti-smuggling battles.
At Maiduguri Command of the Service where he spent 12 years, he was a thorn in the flesh of smugglers who feared and avoided him like a plague.
Jamairi was so crucial to the anti-smuggling campaign of the Maiduguri command that he was twice denied redeployment to, first, Tin Can Island in 2010 and Ogun Command in 2013 by successive CACs before his eventual redeployment to Ogun command early this year.
The unusual performance of Jamairi in Maiduguri caught the attention of the former CGC Adullahi Dikko who not only conferred him with CGC Award and eventually sent his on a course in Canada, but promised him a rank movement immediately he finished his course.
To show his satisfaction with his performance, Dikko then visited Jamairi at his course venue in Canada where he re-emphasized his promise of promotion.
However, not only did the promotion remained a mere promise until Dikko left the Service, the distraught Jamairi has stagnated on CSC rank for eight years running and still counting.
Even though, the officer has not allowed this obvious injustice affect his performance as demonstrated by his current exploits at Ogun Command, but sources close to him whispered that the sad development has led to what they called inner struggle by the officer which they feared may gradually ebb away at his performance, if nothing is done by the Customs authority.
Those who are familiar with the curious case of the competent but unrewarded officer expressed hope that the CAC, Ogun Command, Controller Madugu and ACG, Zone’A’, Alhaji Aminu, will officially take up the matter with the Customs High Authority in order to avoid sending wrong signal to other hard-working officers.
‘’How they treat the case of this young man whom everybody has celebrated but not rewarded commensurately with his quantum of work will determine to a great extent how other officers will regard the ethics of hard work , dedication and sacrifice in the service’’, one of the observers of the event interjected.