INTERVIEW: Comptroller Ojo “We Expand Our Hospital For Influx Of People That Will Be Coming From The Community “

 

 

• Rice importation is still banned through the land border…… Comptroller Ojo

The Customs Area Controller , Ogun 1 Idiroko Command, Comptroller James Ojo in this interview with some selected journalists in his office spoke about how he prioritize safety of personnel under his watch despite the porous land border post. Comptroller Ojo also shed lights on items that are approved for import and export by the government. He also appreciated the Comptroller -General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi for giving him the opportunity to service the Federal Republic of Nigeria, saying the leadership style of the Comptroller General, has brought tremendous progress to the Service, officers and the Nigerian economy which everyone can attest to.

Excerpts……..

Give us an overview of the activities of the command since you took over, revenue, anti-smuggling activities and general operations?

I took over from Compt. Shuaibu who is now in charge of Zone B at Kaduna. When I came, I saw what he has done in terms of seizures , in terms of revenue he has generated , Officers readiness to work, relationship with other agencies and stakeholders. I took over and went straight to action. I met with various stakeholders, I visited the Traditional Rulers here in Idiroko and seek for their cooperation and assistance, because over the years, there have been this unfriendly relationship between the Customs and the community. So I came down to their level to ask them what the problems were and they were able to say what the problems are and I assured them that those problems will be solved. Am happy to say that most of those problems are no longer there now. We enjoy good working relationship and they come here regularly and we exchange greetings.

Another area is our primary and secondary schools funded solely by the revenue generated from the school… Comptroller Ojo 

 

In terms of Anti-smuggling , you know this command is an enforcement command majorly, and my officers have been up and doing, we have been able to make a lot of seizures, thousand bags of rice, maize, cannabis, used vehicles and a lot. The officers have been working and am happy they are working very well. And one other thing is, I promised everybody when I came in, that the era of cock and shoot gun to kill people all over the place is over. These days Customs is becoming more of a global thing than use of force. We deploy intelligence to gather some of the things we want to act on, I want to say that has yielded fruitful results. A lot of seizures have been made through that effort without actually shooting a gun. Since I came, we have not recorded any casualty, either from the officers side or the opposite site. So we have always been doing our work without any casualty.
In terms of revenue, I made the revenue at N12m per month, and the last time I held press conference here , we were able to raise the revenue to about N77m. So we are improving on the record we met on ground and we are actually doing it well. The command is peaceful, the officers are going about their normal duties, we are performing our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Our hospital is there for the community to use, they are delivering babies, we are having surgeries being performed in the hospital, the hospital is expanding, we make sure we expand the hospital for the influx of the people that will be coming from the community. We are happy to do that because, it is one of our CSR to them. So it can show that we too have something to give to the community. This is one of the area we have assisted the community.
Another area is our primary and secondary schools funded solely by the revenue generated from the school. That is where we pay the teachers, but I must tell you that I was lucky to meet the CGC in Lagos and I discussed about the school with him of the possibility for customs absorbing those teachers into permanent employment and he actually bought the idea and promised that he will seriously pursue it. So that if at the end of the day that is done, they will become our civilian staff just like it is done in the army and others, because they have done very well. Even some of the product of that school are in the customs, so, we are trying our best to see that the community benefits. We have done much and we are still working to do more.
All these things are possible due to the encouragement from our CGC. The CGC is somebody that will encourage you to work, he is not a bully, he doesn’t harass or intimidate officers, he will analyze things and to make you see reasons why you should do your job. So, we are all happy that we have him at the helm of affairs. Our prayers is that God will give him good health to lead the Service as expected. The Service has been doing well since he came onboard and everybody is attesting to it, government is attesting to it, the public and officers are attesting to it. We are enjoying the dividend of his leadership, salary wise, promotions , training, there is hardly any week the headquarters will not call officers for training, either in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos or at any local level, it has been training and retraining. So many things have been brought to the Service, so as to widen the scope of officers and to make sure they are always alive to their responsibilities.

Sir, talking about the activities here and the role Idiroko border is playing to import and export activities. Can you tell us those items that are been allowed to be imported or exported through this border?

This border is just like any entry point, any customs goods are allowed to come in here, those that pay duties. But, there are some exceptions, like pharmaceuticals can not pass through the border, it must pass through Apapa Port, that is the standard. Like rice, rice isn’t banned officially, but then is under suspension. Because, if a particular product is not given access to Forex, definitely that item will not be allowed to come in. Rice is completely disallowed from coming in through the border, because the Federal government intend to grow our local rice industry. Nigeria is blessed with vast fertile land that can cultivate rice that feed this country and we still export. But because our people have this mentality of not eating local produced rice, we depend mostly on this foreign imported rice. Some of these imported rice are not of any nutritional value. Some of them have been manufactured for months/years and they are produced with chemicals on like our local rice which is natural and is health friendly. Those who are diabetic patients are not encouraged to eat this foreign rice , but our local rice is friendly with diabetic patients.
Also, the foreign exchange used for rice importation can be channelled into other areas of development. Aside from that, other things that have been banned like second hand cloths , arms and ammunition which is under absolute prohibition can not come in here. But, when you have other items like food and drinks, like Alomo bitters, these are items that are domiciled in ECOWAS region. These goods, they come in through ETLS (ECOWAS TRADE LIBERALISATION SCHEME), they are allowed to come in after they met some conditions. They are not to pay duty to government, they only pay small tax. Like if you have other goods like electronics, fridge and freezers, when you have your PAAR, get them across the border, we allow them to come in and we take our duties. Likewise exports, there are goods that are not allowed to be exported, like scrapped metals, woods and others. But, there are goods that are allowed for exports, particularly these goods produced from our Free Trade Zones, they are allowed to go outside Nigeria so as to generate more foreign reserve for our country.

Talking about rice, recently the FG through the Customs released a statement on some food items importation because of the food crises. Some people are asking if the items will be imported through the border. From your own vintage position have you gotten any directive on that ?

We are reading it in the newspapers and the CGC has addressed a press conference that the FG is relaxing duty on these items. In the coming days, we will get the clearer picture of those items that will enjoy the fee duty. Am not sure rice is among those that will enjoy it. When you talk of husked rice, these are rice that have not been milled. When you encourage local production, it is for them to milled this rice and milling will equally generate employment opportunities to Nigerians. Those who are working in the mills will not equally be jobless, is not the finished rice that is coming in.

For now, there is no directive that the husked rice will be imported through the border?

Like I said in the coming days we will get a clearer picture via the channel where the CGC communicates.

Sir, you said you raise the revenue from N12m per month to over N77m, what is the magic ?

You see when I came in here, I said that, am a revenue officer. This command though is an enforcement command, I told the audience and everybody that am going to use my ingenuity to ensure that we generate more revenue to the command. That is exactly what happened, have been able to encourage some people who hitherto were using inside the bush to pass their loads, have encouraged them to come out and pay duty. What is the essence to go and load dutiable goods, only for you to go through the bush and when you are caught you lose everything, you can even be prosecuted, though most of them will run away and abandoned their goods. So a lot of them adhere to that advice, they are coming and they are paying duties, no matter how small it is, by the time they pay and go without any problem. I also told my officers on the road not to disturb or harass them to allow them easy passage. So, in the coming months we are going to see more of that happening in this command.

No matter the modest achievements, there are bound to be challenges, what are your challenges Sir ?

Yes, there can’t be situations like this without challenges, we are having our challenges. The first challenge is the porosity of the border. There are so many unapproved routes, that even if we line up all our officers, am having officers strength of about 1000, that if you line up all of them along the border, you will not be able to cover it. So we are working round the clock to ensure that some of this places we can’t cover, we deploy intelligence, we work with other agencies of government who supply intelligence to us . Another challenge we are having is lack of cooperation from some people, like some of the people who are smugglers, some we have appeal to them, they have turn a new live and paying their duties. But, there are some of them who are still very violent that are not trying to yield, they see it as if you forced them to take their daily bread from them. But, we have always made it known to them that when you are doing an illegal thing, there is nothing that will qualify it to be legal.

When I visited the Alake of Egbaland, I made it known to the Kabiyesi that we are not to disturb anybody’s business, we are only here to do our legitimate duty and the Kabiyesi was very very concerned about that. He told them that nobody should come and report issues of smuggling in his palace, that he is not going to support anybody that smuggles will face the wrath of the law. So, you see when you have people in that authority putting their foot down to support us, it gives us strength to do our job. But, some people don’t see it in that order. Some people see us as people who are not supposed to be in the society, they see us as a clog to their illicit activities.

What are your expectations from the communities . How will you describe your relationship with them and how are they complying ?

Yes, like I said, we have a cordial relationship with the communities. I told you when I came in, I listened to their complains and I started to solve them one by one. One of the reason why I know we are on the same page with them was about last protest, that took place nationwide. Here we have series of meetings with them, stakeholders, traditional rulers, they all came here to pledge their loyalty to the government. They all said they will not be part of that protest, they said they are happy with us the way we are doing our work. And lo and behold, there was no single protest here. So it shows we and our stakeholders are in the same page.

What do you want to tell your CGC or any complain to him?

Yes, the CGC is someone that relates with officers and take our welfare as a priority. So, when you have a leader who have the ability to take welfare of his subordinates as a priority, you have gotten everything. So we are praying he continues, we are all happy. Some of us before we became Comptroller, must have lost hope of becoming Comptroller. We have lost hope of getting promoted. But when he came, he brought hope. I am one of the beneficiary of his regime and many others like that. We only hope the Federal government will continue to keep him there.

Then on your own  Sir, how are you motivating the officers ?

You see, there is no other motivation rather than what the CGC is doing. When an officer receives his salary on time, when his salary is increased as at when due, when an officer is promoted as at when due, that officer will go extra miles to work for you. Gone are the days where officers are victimised and harassed, those things are gone with the wind. So, the officers are really enjoying what they are supposed to enjoy.
And finally, to our president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I want to commend Mr president for the bold steps he has taken so far, though it may not be fruitful now, but we call for patience, the bold steps he has taken will surely yield good fruits for the country as he meant well for Nigerians.