By Stella Odueme
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, has pledged the Nigeria Customs Service’s commitment to supporting the Federal Government’s ambition of growing Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy.
Adeniyi made the commitment while delivering a keynote address at the New Nigeria Festival held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Conference Hall, Abuja.
He said the $1 trillion economic target was achievable if the strategies and policies developed by the government were effectively implemented and translated into measurable outcomes.
The Customs boss said the Service had moved beyond policy discussions to practical implementation through its ongoing modernisation reforms, including the deployment of B’Odogwu, the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme and the Advance Ruling mechanism.
According to him, the initiatives were designed to facilitate legitimate trade, create greater predictability for businesses and strengthen revenue generation.
“Execution is nothing if it is not concrete. We have to move from ideas to action and ensure that whatever we plan translates into results. That is how we can begin to see the kind of transformation we are talking about,” he said.
Adeniyi stressed that the responsibility for achieving the $1 trillion economy could not be left to government agencies alone, noting that businesses, institutions and citizens all had important roles to play.
He said the Customs Service was strategically positioned to contribute to the country’s economic transformation through its responsibilities in revenue collection, trade facilitation and border management.
The CGC urged stakeholders to move beyond rhetoric and embrace practical implementation, stressing that Nigeria’s economic ambition would become achievable when institutions and citizens took ownership of their responsibilities and converted plans into concrete and measurable actions.