Customs: Surmounting the Challenges In Border Communities.
By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir Talban Bauchi.
Banditry as a form of terrorism had surreptitiously infiltrated, and ravaged North Western Nigeria, almost morphing into a way of life of its people, co-habiting with governance itself, crippling all the development agenda of the change government, with so many developmental strides going unnoticed and unappreciated.
Security agencies and all other kinds of para-military organisations had become more like military formations, battling terrorism, with much to be desired from their core-mandates of providing the services that served as democratic deliverables in our societies.
The collection of revenue via import/ excise duties and other taxes/ levies as well as anti-smuggling activities as the main functions of the Nigeria Customs Service for instance, have had to be side-stepped for the elephant in the room: banditry had totally crippled almost all economic activities including governance itself.
Katsina’s broad borders with neighbouring Niger Republic had hosted a lot of fracas between The Nigeria Customs border patrol teams and the inhabitants of those communities, in a bid by the Customs to simultaneously curb smuggling and mitigate the effects of insecurity in those areas.
These efforts have resulted in massive losses in properties and goods, as well as human lives. This re-activated the Customs Community Consultative Forum in a rigorous effort to bring harmony between the operations of the Nigeria Customs and its effects on the livelihood of the border communities.
It had run comatose over the years and the otherwise rosy and cordial relationship that had existed between the customs and the communities, became fractured.
A new Controller to the Katsina Area Command has since been posted, with a view to expediting the resolution of the crises, and the restoration of the cordial and peaceful working relationship between the Customs, and the border communities in Katsina.
The new Comptroller General of Customs had picked Comptroller MA Umar to head the Katsina Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service. The Comptroller of the Area Command, CAC, on assumption of duty reiterated that, “It is in the Nigeria Customs and Excise Mission and Vision Statement, the protection of the Nigerian Society. It is one of the core mandates of the Nigeria Customs the valuation and management of human resources.
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Therefore, I as the number one ambassador of the Nigeria Customs Service in Katsina, wish to assure you that I will uphold these tenets and work assiduously towards the preservation of law and order, and the protection of human life and property, and not its destruction certainly”.
The choice of MA Umar for the Katsina Area Command is ofcourse a strategic one, as results have started pouring in fast, as he has pursued the peacemaker agenda, working tirelessly with the State Government, traditional rulers and other community stakeholders, as well as the businessmen that ply their trade around the Katsina-Niger border communities.
MA Umar has since sought the buy in of other security agencies in the State especially the Nigerian Army, while renewing the joint task force team between the Nigeria Customs and the Nigerian Army, which had always forged a tactical operation that had gone a long way in curbing trans-border criminality.
Controller MA Umar had visited the Headquarters of the 17 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, seeking the cooperation of the Brigade Commander, Brigadier-General Oluremi Ayobami Fadairo.
MA Umar comes highly decorated, having been the Team Manager of the Intelligence Unit of the Nigeria Customs TCIP at Apapa Lagos. He was Acting Controller Special Duties at the Force Headquarters, where he oversaw the overhaul and repositioning of the Service, with the automation of processes that has today transformed the Nigeria Service.
He was also the Deputy Controller Admin FCT Command. Comptroller MA Umar was substantive Controller Plateau/ Nassarawa/ Benue and Kano/ Jigawa Commands respectively.
His last assignment was as the Controller Administration at the Zonal Headquarters, Zone B Kaduna. MA Umar comes highly trained both nationally and internationally with specialised training courses in the US, UK, Ghana and South Africa.
His sterling leadership qualities which have portrayed Bauchi Emirate in good light, has him recognised as The Cikaren Bauchi. Cikare as he is popularly called is one of Bauchi Emirates finest ambassadors, and one of the best brains of the Nigeria Customs Service.
The challenges of the Katsina Area Command are certainly now history and a thing of the past, as Cikare brings to bear his laurels and achievements from very laudable examples and standards he has set in his previous appointments.
As a member of the Bauchi Emirate Council, we are proud of Cikare as he positions Bauchi Emirate eminently in the record books of valor, honor and meritorious service.
Tahir is Talban Bauchi.
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