MY TURNING POINT IN CUSTOMS WAS BEING SENT TO THE NIPSS; AS DCG NNADI SIGNS OFF, SAYS CGC ADENIYI IS A BUILDER OF MEN
Dera Nnadi, mni, a household name in the Customs Service, a Public Relations giant and Deputy Comptroller General says what was going for him in the Service was his ability to turn what people see as obstacles into great prospects.
Reminiscing on his almost 35 years service to the nation, he thumbed up the current Customs Comptroller, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, PhD, describing him as ‘a builder of men and an enigma’
He said his turning point was his being sent to the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in kuru, near Jos; a training he noted that opened him up to knowledge, contact and influence. Having been with the media since he was a two-star officer, he noted that they are in a better position to assess him.
DCG Nnadi’s retirement on march 3 has rammed it into the doubting thomases that officers will no longer work with their 3 months retirement leave notice as used to be the case, giving a clearer pointer to many who are billed to retire this month of June.
The retiring DCG who was in charge of the Research department recalled that he had worked with several senior officers-Comptrollers, ACGs, DCGs and Comptrollers General, adding that this factor assisted him a great deal to acquire knowledge and experience.
‘When they see you grow, they think it came from the blues’ I never allowed myself to think that rank and power is everything’ he stressed. Asked if he never had the ambition to hit that rank or even beyond, he was quick to state:
‘In uniform job, your ambition should be limited to service to the nation, not to rank. Once you become an Assistant/Deputy Comptroller, any other rank greater is a bonus’
Nnadi excitedy said he never missed any promotion, adding that one great thing the Service has afforded him was his privilege to have travelled to almost all the countries in the world.
This expanded his horizon of knowledge.
Knowledge outside customs, insights into the workings of the World Customs Organization (WCO), and stakeholders engagement’. According to him, there is no stakeholder or journalist in the industry that he does not know by his/her first name, ‘even when they write with their pseudo names, I will know’
He declared that the Customs impacted on the industry, especially in Apapa where they ensured that the clearing of the road logjam, created several terminals.
He maintained that the media can assess him better than he could, noting that one other good thing going for him is that he never rejected any posting, recalling how he traversed Yobe, Kwara, Harvey road zonal office yaba, Ogun, Apapa, Seme/Badagry , Tin Can Island Command and finally landed back to the Customs Headquarters in Abuja.
DCG Nnadi enlisted to be a Contributing Editor to This PAGE Newspaper henceforth.
He appreciated God for coming out of the Service hale and hearty.