SOME stakeholders have called on the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to ensure that its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Unit implements projects that positively impact its operational areas, particularly border communities.
The stakeholders made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
The NCS recently established its CSR Unit, Customs Cares, to spearhead programmes aimed at supporting the presidential priority areas and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The initiatives would focus on school renovations, mobile clinic activations, food and medical aid, agricultural support, skills acquisition programmes, and youth empowerment.
A customs and tax expert, Okey Ibeke, described the introduction of the initiative as timely and an efficient tool for bringing stakeholders and host communities together to advance Nigeria`s economy.
Ibeke, the Principal Partner at International Trade Advisory Services Ltd, stated that the projects should impact border communities, as they were often neglected and lack basic amenities and infrastructure.
“Border communities are often neglected by government, because of where they are, they lack social infrastructure, road, schools, water and all these things. They need projects that will touch their day to lives.
“This is because customs rely on them to get information about the movement of smugglers, so getting close to them and doing things to improve their well-being will make them stop seeing customs as enemies.
“That is why, at times, they attack them, but through this CSR, they will start seeing customs as friends, as partners to the economic development of Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, the NCS had already begun its CSR initiatives before the recent formal unveiling and advised them to invest more in projects within the locations of their commands.
He said that the initiative would help secure greater support, especially for their anti-smuggling efforts.
The expert also urged them to invest in key stakeholders at the port, such as training clearing agents, given their critical role in issuing licenses to customs agents.
He alleged that most import duty fraud at the ports was perpetrated by them and explained that demonstrating genuine care for them could help reduce fraudulent activities to the barest minimum.
“The training should educate them on the dangers of committing fraud and highlight its impact on the NCS’s operations, their communities, and future generations,” he said.
Similarly, the Secretary of the Customs Consultative Committee (CCC), Dr Eugene Nweke, noted that the CSR Unit has the potential to make a significant positive impact on Nigerian communities, particularly those in border and riverine areas.
Nweke expressed confidence that, over time, the initiative would encourage communities to either resist smuggling or provide useful information to help customs effectively curb smuggling.
He urged the NCS to undertake projects that empower youths and women involved in farming and mining to enhance their capacity for importation.
“Since customs revenue comes from taxes imposed on trades and related activities, as such it is not out of place if the NCS`s CSR is structured and channel towards empowering young men and women.
“The empowerment should be for those who engage or are involved in farming and mining exportation activities, to boost their consolidation base. By so doing, within a short period, the CSR will strengthen the exports capacity of the nation,” he said. (NAN)
