NIIA Partners NCS To Equip Customs Officers With New Techniques To Boost Trade, Investments – Independent Newspaper Nigeria

To improve the capacity of officers of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to anticipate global changes in trade and investments, as well as give them the opportunity to learn new ways of facilitating trade and generating revenue for the Nigerian government, the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, has partnered the NCS on training of its senior officers.

Speaking during the opening of the Advanced Senior Executive Course On Strategic Foresight &Trade Intelligence For Nigeria Customs Leadership on Monday, in Lagos, Director General, NIIA, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, who was represented by Prof. Femi Otubanjo, a Research Professor at the institute, said the that the event was organized by the NIIA and Bashir Adeniyi Center for International Trade and Investments

(BACITI) to train NCS officers to be “able to prepare for both risks and opportunities in the future, adapt to change in the global order,” among others.

According to the NIIA DG: “The training is an outstanding arrangement for middle level Customs officers to come in once in a while to look at new techniques, innovations, concepts and theories in investment and trade.”
The NIIA DG said that the training “is an outstanding arrangement for middle level Customs officers to come in once in a while to look at new techniques, innovations, concepts and theories in investment and trade.
While restating the NIIA’s commitment to helping NCS to build the most efficient officers, the NIIA DG added: “Our Customs officers are so important because of their role in trade and investments. They generate a lot of money. They monitor trade. They ensure that our industries are not overrun by foreign goods and so on. And so, we need to constantly give them incentives and training to be able to do the job more effectively and efficiently.”

The NIIA DG noted: “The global trade environment is undergoing profound transformation. Rapid technological advancements, evolving geopolitical dynamics, emerging security threats, digital commerce, climate-related disruptions, and shifting supply chains are redefining the context within which Customs administrations operate.

“In this increasingly complex and uncertain environment, success will depend not merely on the ability to respond to change, but on the capacity to anticipate it.”

He said that the NCS occupies a strategic position at the intersection of national security, trade facilitation, revenue generation, and economic development.

“As Nigeria deepens its engagement with regional and global markets through initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), Customs leadership must be equipped with the knowledge, tools, and strategic mindset required in navigating future challenges and opportunities.

“This programme reflects a forward-looking investment in leadership development and organizational capacity, recognizing that the future readiness of any institution depends largely on the preparedness of its people to anticipate change, adapt to emerging realities, and drive innovation,” Prof. Osaghae added.

Assistant Comptroller of Customs and Officer in Charge of Training, NCS, Rhoda Umunadi, said that the “training would help the officers to learn more about trade facilitation, and how trade facilitation can help Nigeria become a better country.”

Umunadi expressed optimism that the “training will help the upcoming people to know what it’s like to be strategic,” adding: “When it comes to decision-making and when it comes to strategic leadership, it will help the officers in this course to take strategic steps to improve themselves and become better leaders.”
Dr. Adesuwa Erediawa, who heads the BACITI, a specialized unit of the NIIA, said: “One of our core mandates is to organize training courses for the Nigerian Customs Service, which is why we’re here gathered today.”

Noting that the course is essential because we live in a dynamic world, Dr. Erediawa added: “There are a lot of uncertainties in the global trade landscape. There are issues of geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, there are climate-related risks. There are a lot of risks, which is why the Customs Service all over the world have to be prepared and anticipatory in dealing with these uncertainties that plague the global trade landscape.”
She said that the course is “designed to prepare Customs officers to not just learn, but to anticipate changes. And it’s a strategic foresight. If Customs officers are able to anticipate changes, they’re able to prepare for both risks and opportunities in the future.
“So it’s essentially to develop a future-ready Nigerian Customs Service.

Also at the event, Chief Superintendent of Customs, Strategic Research and Policy, Patience Gazi,

said that the training would afford them the opportunity to learn from a new perspective in a strategic trade.

“I am so excited to be here. I intend to be open-minded in the process of learning and to take back to my organization new strategies on trade intelligence and foresight into strategic planning.

Affirming that trade is going global in a different dimension, Gazi added that the training “Is an opportunity for us to learn new ways of facilitating trade and generating revenue for the Nigerian government.”