THOUGH I MAY BE STEPPING AWAY FROM ACTIVE DUTY, I WILL ALWAYS REMAIN AN AMBASSADOR OF THE CUSTOMS—RETIRING DCG NNADI

THOUGH I MAY BE STEPPING AWAY FROM ACTIVE DUTY, I WILL ALWAYS REMAIN AN AMBASSADOR OF THE CUSTOMS—RETIRING DCG NNADI

By Timothy Paul Okorocha

Emotions and feeling of nostalgia were the words to express their memories in the customs service where they put almost 35 years of service to nation building. Deputy Comptroller General (DCG) Dera Nnadi and ACG Kingsley Egwu recounted how the Customs shaped their lives.

DCG Nnadi sobbed while reacting to eulogies on him at the church service in his honour attended by the Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR.

The Comptroller General promised to stand in the gap in reaction to the commitment of Nnadi to the Christian chapel at the Customs Headquarters. Adeniyi also promised to replace the two retired officers with strong committed Catholics to propagate the faith to greater heights.

In an address at the pulling out ceremony witnessed by several Deputy Comptrollers General and Assistant Comptrollers General, Nnadi said the quantum of knowledge he acquired has placed him as a billionaire.

Today, I stand here with nostalgic memories as I draw the curtain on nearly 35 years of service in the Nigeria Customs Service. Nostalgic in the sense that I started this about 34 years ago at CTC Ikeja and I am concluding the experience at the the Service apex training Institute in a ceremony as grandiose as the beginning. It can only be God and I give Him all the glory.

When I enlisted into this noble Service over three decades ago, I was a young officer with one dream : to wear uniform and but had very little understanding of the journey ahead. If someone had told me then that Customs would become not just my career but my second home and indeed my first wife whom I am separating from today not divorce please.

Today, I can say with certainty — this uniform and indeed NCS shaped my life.
The Nigeria Customs Service has given me more than a profession. It gave me discipline. It gave me purpose. It gave me lifelong friendships. It gave me moments of pride when we facilitated legitimate trade, strengthened revenue for our nation, and protected our borders against economic sabotage.

Over the years, I have seen transformation — from manual documentation to automation, from traditional enforcement methods to intelligence-driven operations. Along with colleagues wele have faced cross-border challenges, sleepless nights, policy shifts, and public scrutiny. Yet through it all, one thing remained constant: my oath to serve Nigeria with integrity. And indeed I did not just serve with integrity, I recruited members who shared this ideal.

It was not all uhuru. There were difficult days — days when the pressure was intense and the expectations even higher. But there were also days of triumph, laughter in the office corridors, and quiet satisfaction knowing we had upheld the mandate of the Service.

But beyond this uniform, there is another group of people who made this journey possible — my family. To my spouse, my children, and my loved ones: thank you for the sacrifices you made silently. Thank you for the missed birthdays, the interrupted holidays, the late nights, and the times I had to choose duty over comfort.

You carried the weight of my absence so I could carry out my responsibility to the nation. This achievement belongs to you as much as it does to me. Of course I cannot forget the family of General Muhammed Buba Marwa, CON who started it all and ofcourse my Yobe family the Maina Bukars.

To the Comptroller-General of Customs Dr Bashir Gabrail Adeniyi PhD MFR psc+ I have no doubt that you are proud of your Dera. I am also glad that I did not let.you down. To my mentors all of whom I cannot mention here, colleagues both senior and junior officers alike — thank you for the trust, the teamwork, and the shared commitment to excellence. And to the NCS stakeholders and particularly my media friends I doff my hat.

Whatever I achieved was never a solo effort. It was the product of collaboration, mentorship, and collective dedication. As I retire from active service, I do so with pride in what we have built and confidence in the future of this great Service. The Nigeria Customs Service will continue to grow, innovate, and stand as a pillar of national development.

To the younger officers: protect the integrity of this uniform. Improve the systems. Embrace capacity building and evolve with technology. But above all, guard your character — because reputation travels faster than any cargo. To the senior officers mentor with emotional intellegence. To our stakeholders nothing beats voluntary compliance.

Though I may be stepping away from active duty, I will always remain an ambassador of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Thank you for 34 unforgettable years.
May God bless the Nigeria Customs Service.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.