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By Kehinde Olaosebikan
For decades, the Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS) was mostly known for one thing: collecting duties. Sometimes efficiently, often not. Today, that mandate has expanded and the perception has changed. Customs is now on the front line of revenue generation, trade facilitation, data governance, and national security.
The redefinition accomplished under the leadership of the Comptroller General of Customs, Dr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi is built on five pillars: exponential revenue growth, smarter trade facilitation, purposeful data generation, effective anti-smuggling and anti-illicit fund flows measures, and result-driven environmental protection. The results are measurable, and they are changing how Nigeria does business and how it is related globally.
Revenue: Doubling down, year after year
The fiscal numbers tell the story first.
In 2023, NCS collected N3.21 trillion. In 2024, that figure nearly doubled to N6.105 trillion. By 2025, collections rose further to N7.27 trillion.
For 2026, the government has set an ambitious target of N11 trillion. The Service is on track. Between January and June 2026, NCS had already collected N4.043 trillion. This growth was not driven by duty hikes. It was driven by reform.
Automation through Unified Customs Management System, B’Odogwu to cut human interference and leakages.
Intelligence-led enforcement targeted high-risk cargo instead of harassing everyone. Stakeholder engagement brought more importers into the formal net.
At a time when Nigeria is pushing non-oil revenue, the NCS has become the government’s most reliable fiscal engine. The N7.27 trillion from 2025 alone funded roads, security, health and education.
The fiscal impact has been huge. In the words of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, “What we have done is simple. We removed human discretion, we deployed technology, and we built trust with compliant traders. When you do that, revenue will grow exponentially without hurting business. The jump from N3.21 trillion in 2023 to N7.27 trillion in 2025 is proof that the reforms of the Renewed Hope Agenda are working. Our N11 trillion target for 2026 is not a wish. It is a plan backed by data, commitment and hard work.”
Trade facilitation: Speed as economic policy
CGC Adeniyi rejected the idea that revenue must come at the expense of business. Under his watch, clearance times have dropped significantly.
Time Release Studies are now used to measure and improve port efficiency.
Advanced Ruling gives importers certainty on duties before goods arrive. 24-
Hour Operations at major ports mean cargo moves on weekends too. The AEO Program rewards compliant companies with green lanes. Dispute Resolution Desks settle valuation issues in 48 hours, not three weeks. Customs now meets weekly with NPA, shipping lines, and terminal operators. The silos are breaking.
For manufacturers, it means no more shut-downs or waiting for raw materials.
For exporters, it means Nigerian goods get to market faster. For Nigerians, it means lower prices because demurrage costs are falling.
Trade facilitation is no longer a talking point. It is now measured in hours and Naira saved.
Data: From ledgers to intelligence
Perhaps the most strategic shift is in data. NCS under Adeniyi has moved from paper to dashboards. Real-time data now tracks revenue, cargo volumes, and seizures across all commands. The CGC can see what is happening in Tin Can Island Port at 9am and act by 10am. This data is purposeful. It feeds NBS, CBN, and the Ministry of Finance. It informs fiscal policy, monetary decisions, and industrial planning.
Risk management has replaced random checks. The system profiles cargo.
Compliant traders move fast. Risky shipments get attention. In short, Customs has moved from counting bags to understanding trade flows. That is governance.
Anti-Smuggling & Anti-Illicit Financial Flows: Securing the Economy Revenue collection means little if the economy is bleeding through smuggling and illicit fund transfers. This is where the Service has recorded quiet but significant wins.
Anti-smuggling:
The Enforcement and Intelligence Units have shifted from random raids to targeted operations based on data. In the last 18 months, the Service has intercepted large consignments of arms, foreign rice, used vehicles, and petroleum products being smuggled across land borders and through the ports.
More importantly, the Service is now collaborating with the Army, Navy, DSS and Interpol. Joint operations and intelligence sharing have made smuggling riskier and less profitable.
Anti-illicit financial flows (IFFs):
Customs is now a key player in Nigeria’s fight against money laundering.
Other News
Through the Currency Declaration System and collaboration with EFCC, NFIU, and the CBN, the Service is monitoring and reporting suspicious cross-border movement of cash and trade-based money laundering.
Trade mis-invoicing, under-valuation, and false declaration – tactics used to move illicit funds – are now being flagged by the new risk engine. Several cases have been handed over to the EFCC for prosecution.
The message is clear: Nigeria’s borders will not be used to launder money or finance insecurity.
Wildlife Protection: Customs As Environmental Guardians
A new and unexpected role for Customs has emerged: protecting Nigeria’s wildlife and enforcing global environmental laws.
Under Adeniyi, the NCS has become more elaborate in the fight against wildlife trafficking. Hitherto, Nigeria had become a transit hub for pangolin scales, elephant tusks, and other endangered species headed to Asia.
That is altering. The Service, working with the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, non-governmental organisations, NGOs, and international partners, has made several high-profile seizures at airports and seaports.
In 2024 and 2025, Customs intercepted multiple containers of pangolin scales and ivory worth billions of Naira. Suspects have been arrested and prosecutions are ongoing.
Customs officers are now being trained to identify wildlife products.
Detection dogs have been deployed. And Nigeria’s image as a safe corridor for traffickersis being dismantled.
This work protects biodiversity and also protects Nigeria from sanctions by CITES and other international bodies.
The Human Face of Reform
Systems don’t work without people. CGC Adewale Adeniyi has invested in officers’ training. There has been massive capacity building in ICT, investigation, and customer service. Welfare has improved. The Service now engages stakeholders through town halls and publishes regular performance reports.
The culture is shifting from “us vs them” to “partners in nation building.”
Challenges And the Road Ahead
The gains are real, but challenges remain.
Port access roads need fixing. The ₦11 trillion target for 2026 will demand even tighter leak-proof systems. Export facilitation must be deepened. And all these reforms must be institutionalized. But the foundation is different now.
The Bottomline: A Service Redefined
Three years, five transformations. The NCS raked in ₦3.21trillion in 2023; ₦6.105trillion in 2024 and ₦7.27trillion in 2025. In the first half of 2026 it generated ₦4.043trillion. That is exponential revenue.
Nigeria now has faster ports, AEO, 24-hour service. That is trade facilitation. Real-time data and risk engines. That is governance.
Seizures of arms, drugs, and illicit cash. That is security. Interceptions of wildlife products. That is environmental stewardship. Under CGC Adewale Adeniyi, the NCS has stopped being just a border agency.
It is now a revenue engine, a trade enabler, a data hub, a security outfit, and an environmental watchdog.
Today, the Nigeria Customs Service, according to CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, “is not just about collecting duties. We are facilitators of trade, generators of data for national planning, and gatekeepers against smuggling, illicit financial flows, and wildlife trafficking. Our job is to ensure that Nigeria’s borders work for Nigeria – for revenue, for security, and for prosperity”
And for his all-round stellar performance, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi has received widespread commendations. The most significant came on Friday July 3, 2026, during the 147th and 148th sessions of the World Customs Organisation, WCO, Council held in Brussels. On that day, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, highly commended him for his unanimous re-election as Chairperson of the global body.
President Tinubu said the overwhelming confidence reposed in Adeniyi by customs administrations across the world reflected the remarkable progress recorded under his leadership and the growing international recognition of the NCS as one of the world’s leading customs institutions.
“Adeniyi’s unanimous re-election is not only a personal honour to Adeniyi, but also a recognition of Nigeria’s growing influence in global customs administration. His leadership of the NCS has been marked by bold initiatives that have improved revenue generation, strengthened border security, facilitated legitimate trade, and modernised customs operations through homegrown innovations.
“I am confident that his second term at the WCO will further deepen international collaboration, promote secure and efficient global trade, and bring even greater honour to our country,” President Tinubu said.
Customs is no longer just collecting for Nigeria. It is winning, on every front for Nigeria.
