INJECTING NEW BLOOD INTO THE COMMANDS/UNITS: A FOOTNOTE FOR THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF CUSTOM
The coming of this Comptroller General has put a big burden on some of his lieutenants at the various commands and units who hitherto could not decipher the meaning and tenets of good public relations in the running of their operations.
Some of them still believe that they were sent to their areas to make money, an opportunity they believe comes rarely.
This bunch neither know the spirit and letters of corporate social responsibility (CSR) or the positive effects of public relations to the organization they work for.
If you take a cursory look at some of the Area commands or units doing great, whether in revenue generation, anti smuggling or trade facilitation, most of the commands’ helmsmen are those who have one time or the other served as image makers in some customs formations or those who have cut their teeth in the practice of public relations before they were elevated to the rank of full comptrollers and given a command to administer.
The officers like Dr Babatunde Olomu , fsi , ACG Dera Nnadi, mni, ACG Hussain Kehinde Ejibunu would quickly come to mind as image makers – turned Area controllers who have discharged their responsibilities with distinction, dignity and deserved collaboration with the members of the fourth estate of the realm and the public at large. You can see that they are still making waves.
Those who have worked under them like Comptrollers Frank Onyeka and Daniyan of Tin can and PTML commands can be said to be running their commands seamlessly, putting the public first and serving as chief image makers of their respective commands. But with a snag that few of the officers manning few sensitive commands were recommended or their appointments influenced by outsiders worry a lot of industry operators.
It has become an open truth as one of them in Lagos brags as an appointee of the first daughter of the first family and an ‘untouchable’ casting a huge dent on the management and powers of the Comptroller General.
To the extent that the officer behaves like an emperor who can be retained whether or not he performs well, moreso, when it is obvious that he is not doing any great job beyond those of his predecessors.
A Comptroller who reports to duty by 2pm daily (as a routine).
A comptroller who does not pick calls , even from his bosses, is no doubt not a member of the clan of the Comptroller General, and Abuja Headquarters’ management can not say it is not aware of this ugly development.
Impeccable sources have so far disclosed how a few of them aid and abet in moving prohibited goods in and out of the country, yet they are meant to nip smuggling in the bud.
One of them is said to be negotiating how same smugglers he is appointed to police will procure him the latest Range Rover Jeep, so as to look the other way when they bring in such prohibited items.
A cleaning up of the Augean stable by the Comptroller General in the upcoming redeployment of some Area controllers is perhaps one attempt that can help to flush few of the compromised officers out of the system.
Have you imagined several functions the Comptroller General was attending in Lagos, and this same favoured ‘son’ would arrive far behind schedule when the ‘Big man’ was already delivering his speech.
Reason: he has the back of the daughter of the first family.
He neither welcomes journalists, nor chats them up, even though he needs them.
Officers are all giving testimonies (or is it lamentations) on how close -circuited their boss has become.
As a regimented agency of government, they say they can hardly complain to anyone, but have resigned to fate , hoping that the Comptroller General is fully conscious of the performance of all his subordinates and will effect the right changes sooner than later.
The coming of this Comptroller General has put a big burden on some of his lieutenants at the various commands and units who hitherto could not decipher the meaning and tenets of good public relations in the running of their operations.
Some of them still believe that they were sent to their areas to make money, an opportunity they believe comes rarely.
This bunch neither know the spirit and letters of corporate social responsibility (CSR) or the positive effects of public relations to the organization they work for.
If you take a cursory look at some of the Area commands or units doing great, whether in revenue generation, anti smuggling or trade facilitation, most of the commands’ helmsmen are those who have one time or the other served as image makers in some customs formations or those who have cut their teeth in the practice of public relations before they were elevated to the rank of full comptrollers and given a command to administer.
The officers like Dr Babatunde Olomu , fsi , ACG Dera Nnadi, mni, ACG Hussain Kehinde Ejibunu would quickly come to mind as image makers – turned Area controllers who have discharged their responsibilities with distinction, dignity and deserved collaboration with the members of the fourth estate of the realm and the public at large. You can see that they are still making waves.
Those who have worked under them like Comptrollers Frank Onyeka and Daniyan of Tin can and PTML commands can be said to be running their commands seamlessly, putting the public first and serving as chief image makers of their respective commands. But with a snag that few of the officers manning few sensitive commands were recommended or their appointments influenced by outsiders worry a lot of industry operators.
It has become an open truth as one of them in Lagos brags as an appointee of the first daughter of the first family and an ‘untouchable’ casting a huge dent on the management and powers of the Comptroller General.
To the extent that the officer behaves like an emperor who can be retained whether or not he performs well, moreso, when it is obvious that he is not doing any great job beyond those of his predecessors. A Comptroller who reports to duty by 2pm daily (as a routine).
A Comptroller who does not pick calls , even from his bosses, is no doubt not a member of the clan of the Comptroller General, and Abuja Headquarters’ management can not say it is not aware of this ugly development.
Impeccable sources have so far disclosed how a few of them aid and abet in moving prohibited goods in and out of the country, yet they are meant to nip smuggling in the bud.
One of them is said to be negotiating how same smugglers he is appointed to police will procure him the latest Range Rover Jeep, so as to look the other way when they bring in such prohibited items.
A cleaning up of the Augean stable by the Comptroller General in the upcoming redeployment of some Area controllers is perhaps one attempt that can help to flush few of the compromised officers out of the system.
Have you imagined several functions the Comptroller General was attending in Lagos, and this same favoured ‘son’ would arrive far behind schedule when the ‘Big man’ was already delivering his speech.
Reason: he has the back of the daughter of the first family.
He neither welcomes journalists, nor chats them up, even though he needs them.
Officers are all giving testimonies (or is it lamentations) on how close -circuited their boss has become.
As a regimented agency of government, they say they can hardly complain to anyone, but have resigned to fate , hoping that the Comptroller General is fully conscious of the performance of all his subordinates and will effect the right changes sooner than later.