GAURA, OTUNLA, HADISON NOW DCG, ACGs; AS ACG FRANK ONYEKA TAKES CHARGE AS CO-ORDINATOR ZONE A
By Timothy Paul Okorocha
As part of the strategic transition plans to reposition the Nigeria Customs Service, going into next year, the Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, PhD has approved the elevation of the Commandant of the Customs Staff College, Gwagwalada, D. Gaura, as the new Deputy Comptroller General, in charge of Human Resources Department.
The senior officer, a technocrat, has invested a measurable time churning out resourceful men and women at the elite Customs College for some years now.
At a time when posting to the colleges may not look like a juicy one, Gaura distinguished himself providing capacity and the requisite knowledge to very senior officers from far and near, who came looking for quality education that will project the Service to greater heights. He has gone round several customs formations in his tour of duty.
As a manager at the Customs Processing Unit (Revenue) in the Tin Can Island Port , then as a Deputy Comptroller before he was redeployed to the PTML briefly, he raised the bar in revenue generation, maintaining sanity in line with trade facilitation guidelines at the command.
Eminent scholar, H.H. Hadison, who has been the Director of Studies at the Staff College, Gwagwalada, will now take Gaura’s place as the new Commandant, having equally been promoted as an Assistant Comptroller General. Humble, disciplined, loyal, and a no-nonsense Commandant of the Customs Training College, Ikeja, he organized several refresher courses for hundreds of officers of the various commands in Lagos when he held sway.
Indeed, there was no dull moment at the Ikeja Training College under his stewardship; he was often a guest lecturer at so many fora organized by so many security agencies in Lagos.
An embodiment of knowledge, it didn’t take the Comptroller General time to identify his strong points when he moved him as Comptroller (Special Duties) to Gwagwalada where he has proved his mettle.
As the new Commandant, ACG Hadison will extend the boundaries of the institution as a global one it has become, where several other countries will make it a fortress for training of their para- military officers. Hadison brings in a huge wealth of experience, he is tested and trusted and will be one of the new faces of the service next year.
Also appointed as an Assistant Comptroller General is the Area Controller at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Command, Otunla. He will be in charge of the HRD.
ACG Otunla is an officer of note who has served as Special Assistant to several former senior management staff where he garnered a lot of experience.
Until headship of the MMAC, ACG Otunla had also served as an Area Controller at the Ogun 1 Command where he gave smugglers a bloody nose. He says his new office is challenging following the promotion interview coming up weeks away.
The reshuffle also saw a revenue and anti-smuggling expert, ACG Frank Onyeka moved back to Lagos where he will mount the dais as the Co-ordinator of Zone A. ACG Frank Onyeka will bring a lot of positives as the Co-ordinator.
Coming with his wealth of experience at the various seaport commands in the last decade; he will bring this to bear, engendering a better ecosystem that will improve revenue generation, anti-smuggling operations, welfare of officers and men as well as taking the new customs corporate social responsibility to another level. He will ensure that the zone sustains its status as the largest revenue generating zone of the customs nation wide.
ACG Frank Onyeka, until few months ago ‘disrupted’ the trade system when he superintended as the Area controller of Tin Can Island Command, generating its highest revenue ever, and intercepting eye popping dangerous drugs, arms and ammunition, which were like weekly seizures during his stint.
These appointments are a pointer that the Comptroller General knows his men and where they could make better impacts.