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Wale Bashir Adeniyi: One year of impactful leadership as Customs Field Marshal 

With his towering stature, Wale Bashir Adeniyi, the 14th indigenous Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs service, bestrides the landscape of the service with maximum impact in the last one year of stewardship.
In a blistering performance which has left many in admiration and awe, Adeniyi has revolutionized the administration and operations of the NCS in the last one year in office.
The new Customs Sheriff clocks one year in office today, July 19th, 2024.
His appointment as the Comptroller General of Customs on 19th, June, 2023 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, marked a turning point in the annal of the agency.
The last eight years in the Nigeria Customs Service have been characterised by undulating performance.
It has been a mixed bag of fortunes and misfortunes, rise and fall and tragicomedy in the performance of the service.
During those years, the rating of the service plummeted in the eye of the public and the stakeholders who were detached from the cold attitude of the top hierarchy of the Customs were not amused.
Most of the policies and actions of the service, most of which were devoid of human face, brought the agency into direct conflict with the public and the stakeholders due to the leadership style of the man who directed the affairs of the service for those years.
During those years, the officers were muffled and the stakeholders were ruffled.
Then came Adewale Adeniyi, the new Sheriff in Town.
Adeniyi ascended the high stool of Customs as the Customs Comptroller General at a time when the morale of officers was at the lowest ebb.
However, his coming, within a year in office,  has brought hope, joy and renewed enthusiasm among the officers while it has sparked off a newfound love among the stakeholders who are elated over the crowning of the home-grown officer.
The fortune of the service which dipped during the last eight years and its public rating which plummeted within that period due to the rein of a non-customs officer as the head, have now suddenly sprang to life with the coming of the new Sheriff.
In June 2023, the appointment of Adeniyi as the new CGC by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marked a turning point in the affairs of the Customs.
It signalled a rebirth of the service which has been grappling with unfavourable public opinion.
As expected, the appointment of the new Sheriff sparked a spontaneous jubilation and exhilaration among the staff of the service and the stakeholders.
This was expected given the professional acumen of the new CGC and his impressive track record in a service he had held sway for the past 30 years.
Stakeholders, especially the confraternity of the freight forwarders, are unanimous in their assessment of the one year in office of Adeniyi.
Babatunde  Mukaila Abdulazeez, the former  National Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) couldn’t hide his feelings over the inspiring leadership of Adeniyi.
“It is a personal roller coaster feeling for me. We have never had it so good.”, he declared when he was asked to assess the performance of Adeniyi in his first year in the saddle as the CGC.
Ada Ozomena Akpunonu, another frontline freight forwarder and a top-notch member of the ANLCA, was no less impressed by the performance of Adeniyi as the CGC.
“He could eventually emerge as the best CGC customs ever had” she declared.
Ibrahim Tanko, the Vice President, the Western Zone of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) who is also the National Coordinator of the 100 compliance team of the association, also acknowledged the uncommon professional ingenuity of the new CGC.
“He has done well so far”, he stated tersely.
Dr Boniface Aniebonam, the legendary founder of NAGAFF was no less enamoured by the sparkling leadership qualities of Adeniyi as displayed within his first year in office.
“He is a communication strategist” he declared as a matter of fact.
Adeniyi, as a thoroughbred professional in customs administration and human relations, immediately brought remarkable changes from the stiff and top-of-horse leadership approach of the last eight years.
As an astute public relations expert, Adeniyi immediately went on an extensive engagement with all his officers and critical stakeholders.
He first engaged the powers that be with his direct engagement of Mr President, Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwolu and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
He also paid homage to the traditional rulers, including the Oni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.
He thereafter engaged the officers, one-on-one at the Headquarters, interacting with them in their various offices under the air of camaraderie, displaying a rare leadership style that was alien in the last years in the service.
He then followed this up with a tour of the commands where he met with the officers before he headed to the border communities where he made a lot of efforts to create an atmosphere of mutual trust, support and harmonious relationship with the host communities and the customs, a vital ingredient that have long been lost to the last eight years of deep-seated suspicion and acrimony that were engendered by the unfriendly posture of the last regime.
Not done, the new CGC also engaged the members of the maritime media, his constituency during his almost two-decade-long impressive rein as the super public relations officer of the service.
Adeniyi was not unmindful of his counterpart across the border in the Benin Republic to whom he paid homage in a bid to foster a harmonious working relationship that would promote trade and discourage smuggling between the two West African neighbours.
The lawmakers were also not left out in his extensive and strategic engagement as he hosted the members of the Senate Committee on Customs.
In addition, members of various government organizations and private bodies tasted the irresistible lure of Wale’s hospitality.
He didn’t leave the freight forwarders out of his public engagement as he made direct contact with them in their areas of operations.
Adeniyi also reinvigorated the  Corporate Social Responsibility(CRS) of the service by visiting a motherless baby home in Ibadan where he promised to reactivate the milk of human kindness in the Customs under his leadership.
There was hardly any segment of society that Adeniyi did not court its cooperation and support to have an inclusive administration that is anchored on the goodwill of the people.
Adeniyi also thrust the NCS to the consciousness of the global community with his visit to China recently where he sold the boulstered the international image of the agency.
That is the hallmark of leadership excellence.
Adeniyi, as a versatile public relations expert, achieved a dual purpose with this extensive and strategic engagement.
First, he used it to reunite the customs with the critical stakeholders who had hitherto felt alienated by the detached managerial style of the last administration in customs.
Secondly, it used the engagement to launch the customs into a new path of operational rebirth where the new management he leads will carry out its onerous task with full cooperation and collaboration of critical stakeholders.
Similarly, the disbandment of the controversial CGC strike force and streamlining of the mushroom customs checkpoints has also endeared the new Sheriff to the stakeholders, especially the freight forwarders, who had had cause to complain in the past about the excesses of those special forces.
According to Babatunde Mukaila Abdulazeez “It is a personal roller coaster feeling for me. We had never had it so good
“Wale has shown that he has the capacity and what it takes to take Nigeria Customs to the next level.
“He has shown that Nigeria can be at par with the rest of the advanced world in the deployment of trade tools.
“Within his first year in office,  he has shown uncommon courage, commitment and uncanny knowledge of customs operations and processes that are meant to facilitate trade.
“For instance, he introduced what is called the Advance Ruling which holds Customs officers accountable for whatever their position is on pre-importation requests.
“I can tell you that it takes courage to do that as no officer would want to be held responsible for his action.
“But Adeniyi has done that. He was the first CG to bell the cat on this novel idea. This shows his courage and passion to transform customs.
“Also, he introduced another novel idea by partnering with the Japanese government to establish a laboratory for Nigeria Customs.
“The issue of argument on chemical imports will be a thing of the past. This will not only help the customs but the NAFDAC as well.
“Adeniyi, in his first one year in office, has shown us that he knows what needs to be done and that he is a core professional customs officer.
“We can only pray for him to succeed. He has put on the table accountability and transparency, he declared
For Ada Ozomena Akpunonu, Wale is a professional customs officer and “we all know his rich antecedents”
“Unfortunately, he came at a time when Nigeria’s economy is in comatose. This will make his task a bit difficult.
“For instance, the exchange rate is too high and the Customs duties are equally high which have both combined to make goods clearance at the port very exorbitant.
“Wale is a team player. He carries everyone along.
“Through the deployment of his Area Controllers, he has shown the depth of his managerial acumen because his men at the Area Commands are square pegs in square holes.
“By the time he spends four year in office,  he will perform wonders. The atmosphere in the customs now is that of conviviality and sanity.
“If not for the instability of the naira and the bastardized economy, Wale could emerge as the best CGC ever.
Ibrahim Tanko believed Wale is doing well as the CGC.
“He has done well in terms of reducing the bottleneck in clearance procedures by reducing the number of units.
“For instance, he has disbanded the notorious CG strike force as well as border drills.
“He is also working hard to restore the core values of the Federal Operations Units ( FOUs) of the service by enhancing their professionalism.
“He is also doing well in the area of checking the excesses of officers.
“He is also doing well in attending to pending cases such as seizures, detentions, dismissals and suspensions.
“However, I would like him to define and delineate the functions of Customs Police, FOU and Provosts.
”
Their functions and duties should be well-defined and clearly stated to avoid overlap and clash.
Boniface Aniebonam said Wale is a master communication strategist.
” I commend him on the disbandment of the CG strike force.”The interventionist squad had abused the customs process under previous customs administrations.
“We appreciate him for that. He should also take a very strong stance against avoidable trade alerts from different customs units.
“This does not facilitate trade. He should coordinate and hamonise the alert system and I know as a listening officer, he shall look into this disturbing issue.
“There are lot to still be done. However, his one year in office is well and good.
“He should, however, contact critical stakeholders and partner them by using established platforms such as ANLCA and NAGAFF to reach out to the trading public.
“His one year in office has been avoidably aggressive in revenue target and collection.”But the modern-day customs practice is not about revenue but trade facilitation.
”If you raise the compliance level of the trading public, this will lead to high revenue. He should de-emphasize revenue and emphasize trade facilitation which leads to high revenue” retorted Aniebonam.
But Wale’s one year in office has raised the compliance level of the trading public.
The deployment of one of the trading tools which is the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) is an eloquent testimony to that.
Adeniyi also showed his vast understanding of customs operations when he made trade facilitation the fulcrum of his administration.
All over the world, the Customs has duties to facilitate trade, collect revenue, detect and prevent smuggling, with none of the functions running counter against the others.
But over the years, especially in the last eight years, trade facilitation has been subjugated to revenue collection to the chagrin of stakeholders, but the decision of the new CAC not to injure trade facilitation in pursuit of revenue and smugglers is welcomed by the appreciative freight forwarders.
It is more gratifying to note that the new CGC has promised to break away from the past crude method of anti-smuggling tactics which had led to the avoidable death of officers and innocent people.
He hoped to achieve this by relying more on the deployment of technology which will maximise performance and minimise casualties.
The triumph of brain over brawn.
As the 14th indigenous Comptroller-General of Customs and 31st since its establishment in 1891, Wale Adeniyi, a brilliant public relations expert who is well grounded in Customs operations, is fast becoming a new face of the customs, a beckon of hope for the officers and stakeholders who have been yarning for a change from the last eight years of mutual suspicion and acrimony between the customs and its publics.
Stakeholders have therefore hailed the  Nigerian Customs Service Act, especially Section 14(1)(a) of the Act,  which states that “The President shall appoint a career officer from the Service, not below the rank of Assistant-Comptroller General (who shall be responsible for the overall management of the service) and be accountable for all revenue collections and all expenditures made under this Act”.
It was this new Act that enabled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to discover and unleash the talents and professional acumen of Wale Adeniyi on the customs for maximum impact.
Until his appointment, Adeniyi was in charge of Strategic Research and Policy at the Customs Headquarters in Abuja.
A professional who is conscious of the need to build a solid image for the agency, Adeniyi once served as customs spokesman for almost two decades until January 2017 when he was redeployed to the Apapa Area Command as a Deputy Comptroller.

He was promoted to the rank of Comptroller in 2017 and appointed Deputy Commandant of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja.In 2019, he was redeployed to serve as the Controller of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command, Lagos where he made the famous seizure of $8.07m cash.

He was promoted to the rank of Assistant Comptroller General in February 2020 shortly after he supervised the seizure of $8.07 million cash being illegally taken out of Nigeria through the E-Wing of the international airport tarmac.

 He was subsequently posted to head the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja as Commandant.

In recognition of his service, former President Muhammadu Buhari, on October 11, 2022, conferred the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) on Adeniyi.

Stakeholders are unanimous in their conviction that the Nigeria Customs Service will witness a galloping development, turn around of fortunes and professional excellence under the stewardship of  Adeniyi.

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Safari Valley Eco Resort targets Nigerian market as NANTA concludes Ghana retreat

 

–as Ghana’s deputy tourism Minister advocates stronger Nigeria-Ghana tourism partnership

Funso OLOJO, Editor

Safari Valley Eco Resort in Dawu, Ghana’s Eastern Region, is intensifying efforts to attract more Nigerian tourists following the conclusion of a five-day familiarisation tour and executive retreat by the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA).

The visit culminated in an executive dinner held on Tuesday, July 21st, at Safari Valley Eco Resort, where tourism stakeholders from Nigeria and Ghana reaffirmed their commitment to promoting intra-African travel and deepening cross-border tourism partnerships.

A major highlight of the retreat was NANTA’s engagement with key players in Ghana’s tourism industry, giving the Nigerian delegation first-hand experience of the country’s tourism offerings while exploring opportunities to develop attractive travel packages for Nigerian travellers.

Ghana Seeks Stronger Tourism Collaboration

Addressing participants, Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Tourism called for closer collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana, urging both countries to leverage their shared history, cultural affinity and longstanding relationship to stimulate tourism growth.

The minister noted that Nigeria remains one of Ghana’s most strategic tourism source markets, a position consistently reinforced by the Ghana Tourism Authority through initiatives aimed at attracting more Nigerian visitors.

Participants also echoed calls for African countries to reduce travel barriers and ease cross-border movement to unlock the continent’s enormous tourism and economic potential.

Safari World Showcases West African Tourism Vision

Hosting the Nigerian delegation was Safari World, the parent company of Safari Valley Eco Resort, founded by renowned forest scientist and conservationist Samuel Afari.

Speaking during the engagement, Afari described the visit as a significant milestone in advancing the vision of an integrated West African tourism market.

“We at Safari World are very excited to welcome our Nigerian colleagues from NANTA.

“Throughout our discussions with the association, particularly with its President, Dr. Yinka Folami, it has been encouraging to see that ‘Africa for Africa’ remains a shared agenda for both parties,” he said.

He added that the visit provides an opportunity to transform that shared vision into practical partnerships while strengthening the enduring brotherly relationship between Nigeria and Ghana.

“We look forward to welcoming more Nigerian visitors and showcasing authentic Ghanaian hospitality and leisure—the Safari World way,” Afari said.

Speaking passionately about his investment, Afari highlighted the role Nigerians have played in transforming business opportunities across Africa.

He described Safari Valley as the fulfilment of a vision centred on conservation, eco-tourism and nature-based experiences, adding that the resort also seeks to unlock the immense potential of maritime and leisure tourism in the sub-region.

Building a Multi-Destination Tourism Brand

Safari World is steadily positioning itself as one of Ghana’s most diversified tourism brands through its integrated city, riverfront and forest destinations.

Its tourism portfolio spans Accra, Ada and Dawu, offering visitors a blend of eco-tourism, hospitality, leisure and cultural experiences tailored to both domestic and international markets, with Nigeria identified as a priority market.

NANTA President, Dr. Yinka Folami, who led the Nigerian delegation, said the association would encourage host destinations to stage its conferences for at least two consecutive years to deepen partnerships and maximise tourism and business opportunities.
Expanding Opportunities for Nigerian Travellers.

The collaboration is expected to open up new travel packages for Nigerian tourists, particularly in eco-tourism, coastal tourism and community-based experiences.

Driven largely by private sector partnerships and supported by government efforts to strengthen regional tourism, the initiative is expected to enhance travel exchanges between the two countries.

Safari Valley’s renewed focus on the Nigerian market comes at a time when tourism stakeholders across West Africa are advocating easier visa processes, stronger regional cooperation and policies that will accelerate the growth of Africa’s tourism economy.

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NANTA Exco embarks on seven-day Ghana retreat, fam trip to deepen regional tourism partnership

Gloria Odion, Reporter

The National Executive Council (NEC) of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) has commenced a seven-day executive retreat and familiarisation (fam) trip to Ghana, hosted by Safari World, as part of efforts to strengthen regional tourism partnerships and expand cross-border travel opportunities.

The NANTA delegation was received at Safari World Homes in Accra by the Chairman of the Safari World Group, Mr. Ernest Gyekye, who expressed delight at hosting the Nigerian travel trade leaders.

He assured the delegation of a memorable experience throughout their week-long stay.

Speaking on the significance of the visit, NANTA President, Mr. Yinka Folami, described the retreat and familiarisation tour as a strategic initiative aimed at fostering stronger business relationships and promoting collaborative tourism development across Africa.

“This mission is not a leisure trip,” Folami said. “It is a deliberate step to implement and expand our association’s marketing advocacy for Nigerian brands across borders.”

He noted that Nigeria and Ghana share deep historical, cultural and commercial ties that should be leveraged to drive tourism growth on the continent.

“Nigeria and Ghana share history, culture, trade and people. The future of our tourism cannot be built in silos,” he said.

“This retreat is about moving from policy to practice—creating real products, real partnerships and real movement of travellers between Accra and Lagos.”

As part of the programme, the NANTA executives will engage in strategic business-to-business (B2B) meetings with their Ghanaian counterparts, tour key tourism destinations under the Safari World brand, and participate in cultural exchange activities designed to promote stronger bilateral tourism cooperation.

The itinerary spans Safari World’s three flagship destinations, including Safari Homes in Accra, the Aqua Safari riverfront experience, Safari Island Cruise, Safari Nautica, and Safari Recreation and Sports facilities in Ada, as well as the Safari Valley Eco Resort and Safari Eco Park in Dawu.

Operating under the brand promise, “One World, Three Destinations, Over 20 Unique Experiences,” Safari World is leveraging the visit to strengthen its footprint in the Nigerian travel market while positioning Ghana as a premier destination for leisure tourism, conferences, group travel, family holidays and premium tourism experiences.

A major highlight of the visit will be the Executive Dinner scheduled for July 21 at the Safari Valley Eco Resort, where key stakeholders from Nigeria and Ghana’s tourism industries will deliberate on strategies for deepening travel trade and advancing regional tourism development.

The familiarisation tour is expected to provide NANTA’s leadership with first-hand knowledge of Safari World’s tourism offerings, paving the way for the development of attractive travel packages and stronger business partnerships that will benefit Nigerian travellers and the wider West African tourism industry.

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Stakeholders endorse hybrid governance model for Nigeria’s tourism, hospitality industry at NIHOTOUR forum

Funso OLOJO, Editor

Leading academics, industry practitioners, professional bodies, regulators and other stakeholders have called for the adoption of a hybrid professional governance framework that combines statutory regulation with professional recognition to strengthen Nigeria’s tourism and hospitality workforce.

The recommendation emerged at the NIHOTOUR Stakeholder Engagement Forum held on Wednesday, July 15th, 2026, where participants agreed that closer collaboration between regulators, professional associations and academic institutions is essential to building a globally competitive tourism industry.

Welcoming participants, the Director-General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Aare Abisoye Fagade, stressed that developing a world-class workforce requires strong partnerships among government, academia and the private sector.

The forum featured a keynote presentation by Professor Wasiu Babalola, Professor of Hotel Management and Tourism at Atiba University, Oyo, legal practitioner and PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law, Lead City University, Ibadan.

His paper, titled “Strategic Roles of Industry Associations and Professional Bodies in Workforce Registration, Certification, Licensing and Sustainable Human Capital Development,” drew from his ongoing doctoral research, “Professional Recognition by Professional Practice: A Viable Alternative for Nigerian Tourism and Hospitality Professional Stability.”

Professor Babalola argued that although the NIHOTOUR Act 2022 represents a significant milestone in the professionalisation of Nigeria’s tourism and hospitality sector, legislation alone cannot guarantee long-term professional stability.

According to him, sustainable growth can only be achieved through effective collaboration between statutory institutions and recognised professional bodies operating within clearly defined responsibilities.

He observed that the industry continues to grapple with fragmented regulation, overlapping institutional mandates, inconsistent certification processes, weak professional identity and inadequate workforce data.

Rather than fostering competition among institutions, he said these challenges require a collaborative governance structure that clearly assigns responsibilities while promoting synergy.

Drawing lessons from established professions such as law, medicine, engineering, architecture and accounting, Professor Babalola explained that successful professional systems operate on a dual model in which government regulators establish minimum standards while professional bodies drive competency development, ethical conduct, continuing professional education and peer recognition.

A major highlight of the presentation was the introduction of the Hybrid Professional Governance Framework, built around the Professional Recognition by Professional Practice (PRPP) model.
Under the proposal, recognised professional bodies would be formally empowered under the NIHOTOUR Act to oversee continuing professional development, ethical standards, practitioner engagement and specialised competency development. NIHOTOUR, on the other hand, would retain responsibility for statutory regulation, licensing, certification, standards enforcement and maintenance of the national workforce register.

Professor Babalola outlined several key recommendations to support the framework, including the formal recognition of credible professional bodies through the PRPP model, clear delineation of professional practice areas within the tourism and hospitality industry, development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and operational manuals for recognised professional bodies, enhancement of a national digital tourism and hospitality workforce register, competency-based certification under NIHOTOUR, mandatory continuing professional development through accredited professional associations, stronger collaboration among government, industry and academia, and alignment with international best practices in tourism workforce development.

He further noted that Section 4 of the NIHOTOUR Act 2022 already provides sufficient legal backing for collaboration between NIHOTOUR and professional bodies in areas such as training, certification, capacity development and other statutory responsibilities, making partnership a more practical approach than institutional rivalry.

Stakeholders at the forum endorsed the proposal, describing it as a practical framework capable of improving institutional cooperation, eliminating duplication of functions, strengthening workforce quality and enhancing Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global tourism and hospitality market.

They also urged NIHOTOUR to sustain stakeholder consultations on the proposal in order to develop a governance model that enjoys broad industry acceptance and reflects the collective aspirations of all relevant stakeholders.

Concluding his presentation, Professor Babalola said: “Professionalisation is strongest when statutory authority and professional recognition work together, not in competition, but in partnership.”

He also acknowledged the academic support and research environment provided by the Faculty of Law, Lead City University, Ibadan, noting that presenting his doctoral research before national and international audiences demonstrates the university’s commitment to academic excellence, globally relevant research and bridging the gap between academia and industry.

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