By Nwarima Diala

Injustice to one Nigerian is injustice to all. The present Comptroller- General (CG) of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali, and his special assistant, Col. Isah Buhari , are wise choices for these  positions. They are, unarguably, the best Nigerians in terms of incorruptibility and fairness. They are a blessing to the Buhari admininistration and to the nation at large.
I, however, want to draw their attention to the breach of policy and presidential directive by the ancien regime. This gross injustice has led to   low morale on the part of affected officers. The low morale and sense of exclusion felt by these officers of the Nigerian Customs have been aggravated by the selective implementation of a presidential policy and directive by the customs. This policy/presidential order conveyed by circular NO.082/2010 has been implemented in all the commands of the Nigerian Customs, except the Ogun State Command.
Circular No.082/2010 with the heading, Re: Appropriate Placement Of Cadre And Rank For General Duty And Support Staff was meant to address some injustices and unfair treatment meted out to O.N.D. & H.N.D. graduates who opted to serve their fatherland by joining Customs. The Nigerian Customs, in its wisdom, wanted to address the controversy, nay dichotomy, between Bachelor’s Degree holders and Higher National Diploma (HND) holders who are university and polytechnic graduates, respectively. So, the Customs high command wrote to the president who gave approval for the restoration of officers’ ranks and cadres.
Specifically, the breach and/or selective implementation is in respect of Article 1, paragraph [b] of Circular No.082/2010 of 12th October, 2010, which was signed by Deputy-Comptroller-General [DCG] S.N. Argungu, who was in in charge of Human Resources Development [HRD], on behalf of the then Comptroller-General, Abdullahi Dikko Inde. The above paragraph [b] of Article 1 provides: All General Duty Officers in possession of a minimum of National Diploma or its equivalent, who were appointed or promoted to Superintendent Cadre on or before 1st  January, 1999 (currently wearing inspector ranks) are to revert to the Superintendent Cadre.
However, General Duty officers who were appointed or promoted to inspector cadres effective 2001 till date were not to benefit from the presidential directive. See paragraph (d) of Article (1). Equally, all officers promoted to chief inspectors of customs (CIC-CONSOL 13) who benefitted from advancement beyond cadre/elongation are to retain their ranks of Chief Superintendent of Customs. There shall be no alignment to the rank of Assistant Comptroller of Customs. See paragraph (a) of Article 1. Again, all support staff officers CONSOL 08-13 shall remain in the inspector cadre as provided for in the Nigeria Customs Service Scheme of service.
These cadres include: accounts/audit assistant, data  processing officer, stores/stock verifiers, secretarial assistant/typist, catering assistant, marine/deck officer, printing, building/electrical/mechanical, bandsman, nursing superintendent, aircraft maintenance technologist, communication, pharmacy technician, cameraman, transport/driver, etc. See paragraph (e) of Article 1.
Unfortunately, those officers on inspector cadres who were not to convert to the superintendent cadre, on their own albeit illegally, started wearing the superintendent rank equivalents. On assumption of office, the new Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ali, who is a stickler to the rule of law and discipline, directed that all officers on Inspector cadre who have been wearing superintendent cadre ranks should revert to the status quo- ante. He must have forgotten to direct that all General Duty Officers in possession of a minimum of National Diploma or its equivalent, who were appointed or promoted to Superintendent Cadre on or before 1st January,1999 [currently wearing Inspector  ranks] are to revert to the Superintendent Cadre going  by paragraph (b) of Article 1. I believe this was an error of oversight because he was not informed accordingly.
Colonel Hameed Ali (retd) is widely regarded as fair in all his dealings with people. He is an exceptionally incorruptible Nigerian. Even his chief of staff or special assistant, Colonel Isa Buhari, is a military man of no mean repute and  had worked at the EFCC.  The Special Assistant, like his boss, has zero tolerance for corruption. He is equally a man of justice. I hereby urge them to use their good offices to right this wrong and injustice. I am in addition calling on the Senate Committee on Customs and the House of Representatives Committee on Customs to prevail on the new Customs management to comply with its own directive conveyed in Circular No.082/2010.

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Diala writes from ADC-LAW Human Rights Project, Abuja.
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