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Olaopa Pays Courtesy Visit to Customs CG Bashir, Commends His Leadership and Reforms

Published

3 days ago

October 2, 2025

Joel Ajayi

The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof Tunji Olaopa, has euogised the Controller General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, for his efforts and giant strides in repositioning Customs within his two years in the saddle.

The Chairman further stated that his various innovations and achievements as the head have brought accolades and recognition to the organization in Africa and beyond.

Olaopa stated this when he paid a courtesy visit to Mr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi at the Customs Headquarters in Abuja.

According to the Chairman, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has created more incentives not just for the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigerian Customs Service, but also for other income-generating agencies to thrive.

                                                                                                     Olaopa who was received by the Comptroller-General in the company of his Hon. Commissioners, said he was very encouraged by the work done by the Comptroller, acknowledging there was a whole lot of detailed innovation behind it. He informed the gathering that the Commission was making efforts to take the organisation to a new level, adding that the Commission just recently launched its Strategic Plan.

The Chairman emphasized that it was noteworthy that a sister organisation like the Customs is making significant contributions to the nation.

                                                                          The Commission’s head also used the occasion of the visit to solicit the support of the Nigerian Customs in tackling some issues affecting the Commission. Olaopa requested that the building the Customs recently vacated in Zone3 be made available to the Commission. He also sought the support of the organisation in securing vehicles for the Hon. Commissioners, the Commission’s programs and projects and the Commission’s operational activities.

                                                               Responding, Bahir commended the Chairman for launching and revalidating the Commission’s strategic plan and thanked the Chairman for seeing it through.

                                                                                            While welcoming the Commission’s team to the organization, the CG appreciated Olaopa’s kind words about the organisation, saying that he was very happy to have the team in organisation. According to him, the issues raised by the Chairman were not really big issues; adding that the Commission and Customs have had a long-standing relationship over time.

                                                                                                            He disclosed that the visit represented an expression of continued good neighbourliness that has been maintained over the years. He informed that the movement of the Custom Headquarters from Wuse did not change anything as the organisation still considers itself part of the Wuse community.

He stated that the request made by the Chairman concerning operational vehicles for the Commission and Commissioners was well noted, explaining that the Service would see what can be done once the request is initiated from the Commission.

On the office building request, the CG advised the Commission to contact the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), as all matters concerning physical buildings in Abuja are the responsibility of the organisation.

The high point of the visit was the exchange of souvenirs between Prof. Olaopa and the Controller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi followed by event photographs.

              Signed
          Taiwo Hassan

Head (Press & Public Relations Unit)
2nd October, 2025.

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News

Tin City Warms Up for President Tinubu as North Central Embraces Renewed Hope

Published

24 hours ago

October 4, 2025

The Gleamer

By Sunday Dare

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu berths on the plains and rolling hills that dominate the Jos landscape tomorrow, he will meet a people resourceful, friendly and resilient but weighed down by conflict, yet unbowed by adversity.

So, tommorrow, national attention turns to the Plateau- a locale laden with history and rich with potential. From the tin mines that gave the city of Jos its name, to the Irish potato, strawberry farms and beetroot plantations that dot its landscape, Jos remains a land of promise—truly the Home of Peace and Tourism.

Jos is also deeply woven into Nigeria’s political history. Plateau is home to towering figures such as Generals JD Gomwalk, Yakubu Gowon, John Shagaya, Joshua Dogoyaro, and Jerry Useni. Solomon Lar, Senator Ibrahim Mantu and numerous others also stand tall in the annals Plateau political history.

Jos was also the rallying ground of the famed Langtang Mafia—a group of influential military officers from Langtang in Plateau State who, at the height of their power, played a significant role in Nigeria’s political and military affairs.

The story of Jos is both exciting and excruciating. The city lost its innocence some two and a half decades ago, when the popular Terminus Market was reduced to rubble through acts of arson and looting.

Thus at the turn of the millennium by 2001, Jos—and by extension, Plateau—was thrown into a cycle of unending conflict. Ethnic tensions, clothed in religious garb, tore through the city and spread across the state, dragging Jos into an abyss of violence, almost of Kigali proportions. Peace gave way to war, and tourism jaunts became undertakings to the undertaker.

Yet Jos has never surrendered. Every time it is written off, it rises again—scarred, but resilient. With its multi-ethnic, multi-religious fabric, the Plateau continues to trudge on in pursuit of peace, development, and egalitarian ideals.

It was here, in Jos, that Nigeria’s democratic resurgence was birthed. The historic SDP convention, where late General Shehu Yar’Adua and Chief Moshood Abiola held sway, took place in this city. Jos gave political life to Abiola, our hero of democracy in 1992

Now, thirty three years later, another hero of democracy and of the June 12 struggle returns to the Plateau. President Tinubu’s return and visit to Plateau State is not just to honor the transition to glory of Nana Lydia Yilwatda, the mother of the APC National Chairman.

It is a visit that carries deeper meaning—one of empathy, solidarity, and renewed hope for a people who have endured decades of turmoil. It is a mission to preach peace, console the bereaved, bind wounds, and assure Plateau of its central place in the Nigerian project.

Mr President comes not just to mourn, but to reconnect. He comes to parley with the North Central, to commiserate with a people who have suffered, and to extend the hand of renewed hope. That Renewed Hope is laying a solid foundation as evidenced by Naira at N1,455 per dollar, rising Foreign Reserves at $43bn, Trade surplus heading for N25tr. Revenues up 411% and Inflation down to about 20 per cent. Over 600,000 students benefiting from NELFUND.

This visit is more than ceremonial. It is a journey into the very soul of a people who have known pain, yet remain resilient; a land scarred by conflict, yet still brimming with hope and promise. As the Tin City opens its arms, Jos will not just receive the President—it will receive a message of solidarity, healing, and renewal.

Tomorrow is about remembering the glorious past, confronting the present, and charting a path to a peaceful and prosperous Plateau within a united Nigeria. With President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Jos once again stands at the intersection of history and destiny.

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