Fail Staff College courses fall out – Customs CG tells officers
Uche Usim, Abuja
Henceforth, Customs officers’ promotion and retention in the service will depend largely on their performance at the Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja, as those who fail risk dismissal.
The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retired) broke the unsettling news on Friday at the graduation ceremony of Senior Course 2/2018 and Junior Course 2/2018 held at Regional Training Centre in Gwagwalada.
According to him, the decision to make conduct and performance at the institution major criteria to remain in the organisation, was to underscore the importance of training in a 21st-century Customs Service.
He said: “The promotion to the next rank and the nature of posting an officer will depend to a large extent on participation and performance during the college courses.”
Ali said attending the college has become mandatory for all officers due or nominated.
He added: “Needles to say here, that those who fail in the college would have given us the opportunity to review their retention in the service. Appropriate directives in this regard will be issued to demonstrate seriousness and importance of this commitment to training.”
He said that since the organisation started the revolution in the college earlier in the year, there has been sufficient proof that the courses offered there were revolutionary, as they remain effective tools needed to sustain ongoing reforms in the Service.
Ali added that capacity building in an organisation like the Customs is important to achieving increased efficiency and excellence in its operations.
The Customs boss said he was glad that the reviewed college curriculum would reposition the graduation and the task of building a new Customs.
He noted that “I believe that the knowledge imparted on you will equip you to be better staff officers in your future postings, and good ambassadors of the service.”
In his remarks at the event, the Chairman, House Committee on Customs, who was represented by Hon. Jerry Alagbosun, hailed the programme, describing it as reformatory package for Customs officers.
He expressed the hope that the training from there would help take Customs to the next level.