Customs Trainers Must Work Together To Produce Better Officers – Adeniyi 

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has moved to overhaul the way it prepares new officers, with Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi directing trainers to break away from silo-based operations and work as one team ahead of the 2026 basic training programme.

Adeniyi who stated this on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of an induction workshop for Resource persons and instructors toward the upcoming recruitment training at the Customs Training College, Ikeja Lagos.

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He stated that closer collaboration among trainers was essential to producing disciplined and better-prepared officers capable of meeting the demands of the Service.

The Customs boss, represented by the Assistant Comptroller-General in charge of Human Resource Development, Frank Onyeka, spoke in Lagos at a retreat for trainers drawn from drill, medicals, security, sports and other training disciplines.

He said the retreat was part of new measures introduced by the Service to bring trainers under one platform, harmonise their approach and ensure that the various components of the training programme worked towards a common objective.

“If you don’t work like a team, you will not get the desired results. Working in silos will not give us what we want, but if you come together as a team, it is a natural answer,” Adeniyi said.

He directed heads of the various training units to take full responsibility for their areas while remaining open to contributions from colleagues, stressing that no individual had a monopoly of knowledge.

“To deliver this process and to get the desired results, all of us must work as one,” Adeniyi said.

The Comptroller-General recalled his experience as a trainer in 2008 and 2009, saying officers trained during that period had risen through the ranks, with some now serving as Assistant Controllers.

According to him, the progress of those officers was partly linked to the collaborative efforts of the trainers involved in their development.

Adeniyi explained that the Service had previously trained instructors in separate segments, with different resource persons and trainers meeting them at different times.

He said the new approach was designed to eliminate the fragmentation and delays associated with the previous system by bringing all trainers together.

“You bring a resource person, talk to them. You bring the drill instructors, talk to them. It was taking time. So, instead of breaking these segments, we brought everybody under one roof for the same purpose, to get the same results and drive towards the same purpose,” Adeniyi explained.

He added that the approach would save time while promoting greater coordination among trainers ahead of the commencement of the basic training programme.

On expectations from the new recruits, Adeniyi urged them to demonstrate discipline, perseverance and calmness throughout the training.

“They should be calm, they should be gentle, they should have perseverance, and they should exhibit a very high level of discipline,” Adeniyi said.

Earlier, the Commandant of the Ikeja Training College, Deputy Comptroller Precious Atah, described the retreat as the first of its kind.

Atah said the exercise was important to set the pace for the training programme and urged the trainers to approach it with an open mind.

The Coordinator of the retreat, Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs Greg Itotoh (rtd.), also addressed the participants.

Itotoh charged the trainers to speak freely and discuss issues without holding back, saying this would help expose grey areas and facilitate solutions.