By Stella Odueme
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, has received a Special Award of Excellence from the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) in recognition of the Service’s strategic communication and stakeholder engagement efforts.
Adeniyi received the award at the 2026 IPRA Golden World Awards held in Athens, Greece, on Friday.
According to a statement on Sunday, the recognition highlights the NCS’s communication approach in promoting transparency, engaging stakeholders and supporting public understanding of its ongoing reforms, particularly efforts to modernise Customs operations, facilitate trade and strengthen institutional accountability.
Speaking after receiving the award, Adeniyi described the honour as international recognition of the reform efforts of the Nigeria Customs Service.
He said the recognition would encourage the Service to expand its use of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), in public communication and stakeholder engagement.
“We have started using AI tools in our public communication, and we view this recognition as an invitation to do more. By 2027, we hope the NCS and more Nigerian agencies will feature prominently among global award recipients,” he said.
According to him, effective communication is essential to the success of government reforms because citizens and stakeholders need to understand the objectives of such policies, the challenges involved in implementation and the expected benefits.
Adeniyi said the Customs reform agenda was aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies, particularly efforts to enhance Nigeria’s trade competitiveness, promote exports and strengthen the country’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Customs chief also commended Nigeria’s achievement at the IPRA Grand Prix, describing it as evidence of the country’s growing presence in global strategic communication.
The Grand Prix was won by Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, for its campaign, “AI for Crisis Communication: From Study to Strategy.”
The campaign was developed from a research project led by IMPR Chief Executive Officer, Yushau Shuaib, in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Centre for Crisis Communication.
The project examined the challenges posed by artificial intelligence-driven misinformation, deepfakes and digital information disorder, translating its findings into a strategic communication initiative.
Earlier, IPRA President, Esther Cobbah, said the return of the association to Athens held special significance because the city was where its Code of Conduct for public relations practice was developed 60 years ago.
Cobbah said the 2026 gathering was an opportunity to recognise individuals, agencies and organisations that had upheld ethical communication while achieving excellence in public relations.
“Sixty years ago, in Athens, we built the code of ethics for public relations practice. Today, we have come back to Athens to see how we have deployed those ethics in our work,” she said.