The profile of Comptroller Frank Okechukwu Onyeka and his officers at the Tin Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service continues to rise as their performance also continues along the upward trajectory.
Comptroller Frank Onyeka is well known for his acumen in the area of revenue generation, but he has also been an avowed advocate of legitimate trade facilitation as well as having a good eye for anti-smuggling activities.
Inspite of the transitioning from the NICIS 11 to the Unified Customs Management System, codenamed the B’Odogwu software platform which naturally came in with the teething problems usually associated with newly introduced entities, the Command has been able not only to weather the storm, but also to perform impressively well.
A peep into the activities of the Command shows that they have made the fourth highest revenue intake for the year in the month on November. The Command recorded a generated revenue of one hundred and thirty five billion, two hundred and ten million, five hundred and thirty three thousand, nine hundred and two naira, eighty nine kobo (₦135,210,533,902.89k) only in November.
The above figure towers above the one hundred and twenty billion, one hundred and ninety six million, six hundred and twenty five thousand, five hundred and eighty five naira, thirty seven Kobo (₦120,196,625,585.37k) only generated in the corresponding period of November 2024.
The Command has also hit a record one trillion, four hundred and fifty one billion, three hundred and two million, one hundred and forty four thousand, six hundred and eighty naira, eighty nine kobo
(₦1,451,302,144,680.89) only from January to November 2025.
The Command also made several seizures of unCoustoms goods notably in the month of October. Illicit substances such as Cannabis indica, methamphetamine and other hard drugs worth a street value of five billion, three hundred and four million naira (N5,304.000,000.00) only were recovered as they were cleverly concealed in some containers imported to the Port.
Comptroller Onyeka has also proved to be a competent operations person as he has keyed into some trade tools for operation and evaluation-the Advance Ruling System and the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Programme are some of the tools that he relies on for better efficiency.
The Comptroller-General of Customs Conference was held last week, but its emory will linger for a long period for a number or reasons. Aside the various presentations and the chance to meet with colleagues and create networks for future relationships, awards were also given to various deserving individuals and group entities.
The Tin Can Island Port Command was not found wanting at the event as they conspicuously carted away two awards. The award for the ‘Best in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Special Award in B’Odogwu’ were given to the Command. These awards are seen to underscore the very vital roles being played by the Area Comptroller and his men in the discharge of their statutory responsibilities and also their contribution to national development.
A key decision of the Tin Can Island Port Command’s CAC at resumption of duty was that he started by deploying engagement and partnership as take off approach. He started by fully engaging with critical stakeholders one after the other and carved out good time for the various engagements, while not loosing sight of the other mandates. These have been very critical as reflected in all areas of responsibilities.
A few officers at the Command have been overheard saying that “this has been an incredibly record breaking year inspite of the apparent hitches that occurred while transitioning from the NICIS 11 to the B’Odogwu software platform. It has been such a remarkable year despite all the challenges and this has been crowned with the awards at the CGC’s Conference last week”.
“The journey has been made easier with the dismantling of various operational bottlenecks, the operations have been very well streamlined and will even be more streamlined with the introduction of the one-stop-shop, the national single window project which comes up next January. The stakeholders are now more than ever before complying and we have made the place rather uninhabitable for illegitimate traders. Those engaged in the importation of unCustoms goods no longer find the Command a safe haven for their illicit trade”.
Comptroller Frank Onyeka is not given to saying many words, but he always certainly notes whenever prompted that he is an advocate of seamless trade facilitation while keeping his gaze on the protection of the national economiy and also of course the generation of needed revenue.
As the Command marks a new milestone in its operation, it is hoped that this newly found vigour will continue to usher in the realisation of all the Command’s potentials for the blocking of loopholes and the achievement of all objectives for greater national development.
