Funso Olojo, Editor 

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Area Command, has smashed its previous revenue record, collecting a staggering ₦323 billion in July 2026, the highest monthly revenue ever recorded by the Command.

The landmark performance eclipses the Command’s previous record of ₦304 billion achieved in October 2025, further cementing Apapa Customs’ position as the NCS’s revenue powerhouse.

The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Emmanuel Oshoba, disclosed the figure on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, during the Command’s monthly meeting with Deputy Comptrollers in charge of terminals and Unit Heads.

Oshoba attributed the unprecedented revenue haul to a combination of policy support, operational reforms, improved trade facilitation and stronger compliance by stakeholders.

He particularly commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, and the NCS management team for driving reforms aimed at modernising customs administration and improving the business environment.

“We recognise and acknowledge the CGC’s devotion and dedication to the modernisation project of the Nigerian Customs Service. The management team has introduced several innovations that have streamlined our activities and given us clear direction,” Oshoba said.

According to him, the reforms are beginning to translate into measurable operational and revenue gains, citing the improved performance of the B’Odogwu customs management system.

Oshoba acknowledged that the digital platform initially encountered operational challenges but said subsequent improvements had significantly enhanced its performance and contributed to the Command’s revenue growth.

He also credited the One-Stop Shop (OSS) initiative with reducing cargo delivery time and creating a more predictable trading environment that encourages legitimate importation.

Another major contributor, he said, was the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) framework, which currently has more than 200 beneficiaries.

The CAC noted that the AEO programme had strengthened trust between Customs and compliant businesses while positively impacting the Command’s revenue profile.

Enforcement drives compliance

Beyond trade facilitation, Oshoba said intelligence-led enforcement remained critical to protecting government revenue.

He disclosed that officers and men of the Command had intensified interventions against false declarations and other infractions while ensuring strict compliance with approved valuation principles.

He stressed that the objective was not merely to increase revenue but to ensure that legitimate trade was protected and government revenue was not lost through deliberate evasion.

Oshoba also linked the improved performance to the more stable foreign exchange environment under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He said greater predictability in the forex market had enabled importers and other business operators to plan more effectively, make informed commercial decisions and undertake international trade with increased confidence.

The CAC, however, challenged officers to look beyond routine revenue collection and measure their individual contributions through meaningful interventions.

“In your area of responsibility, you must ask yourself, apart from the normal revenue generated by your unit, what is your own contribution in terms of intervention? What have I added?” he asked.

‘Give stakeholders hope’

Oshoba also placed strong emphasis on trade facilitation and the ease of doing business, urging officers to ensure that legitimate businesses are not unnecessarily frustrated.

He directed officers to resolve disputes promptly where consignments require further scrutiny and ensure that proper documentation and the Post Clearance Audit (PCA) process are deployed appropriately.

On stakeholder relations, he gave officers a simple but pointed directive: “When you interact with stakeholders, let them leave your office with hope rather than despair.”

“As a leader, do not allow anyone who comes to you to depart feeling hopeless or depressed. Give people hope,” he added.

The CAC acknowledged the cooperation of stakeholders and sister government agencies, saying their support had contributed to improved compliance and greater order within the Apapa business environment.

He urged officers to sustain the confidence by maintaining professionalism, respect and collaboration in their dealings with stakeholders.

Sustaining the momentum

Oshoba charged personnel to uphold transparency and discipline while adapting continuously to evolving digital customs processes.

He urged officers to consult more experienced colleagues when necessary, undertake continuous professional development and work smarter to improve productivity.

He also called on Staff Officers to support Deputy Comptrollers in maintaining discipline and building a healthy workplace founded on compassion, empathy, teamwork and concern for the welfare of subordinates.

The CAC further directed the Command to maintain heightened security consciousness, strengthen supervision, intensify in-house training and ensure strict compliance with approved procedures.

While commending officers and compliant stakeholders for the record-breaking performance, Oshoba cautioned that the ₦323 billion milestone should not be treated as an end in itself.

Rather, he described it as a springboard for greater achievements as the year 2026 enters its final months.

The July performance therefore represents not only a new revenue benchmark for Apapa Customs but also a significant test of whether the Command can sustain the momentum through stronger compliance, smarter enforcement and faster cargo clearance in the months ahead.

Ibrahim Nasiru

President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) Bill, 2026, is the single most consequential legislative event in the modern history of our maritime domain.

Announced on August 13, 2026, by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Dr. Pius Akutah, this law marks the definitive end of regulatory hesitation at our Port gates.

For over a decade, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council operated under a crippling structural handicap.

Drafted as an interim economic regulator by policy directive in 2014, the Council was essentially a referee without a whistle.

It relied heavily on moral suasion, diplomatic mediation, and advocacy to get things done.

Multinational shipping lines and terminal concessionaires knew this systemic weakness and exploited it.

They routinely dragged the Council to court to stall enforcement, buy time, and protect their arbitrary local charges.

NPERA completely dismantles that analogue era of compromise. This is not the creation of a fresh, bloated bureaucratic agency; it is a statutory evolution.

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has officially been weaponized into an independent, executive umpire backed by the full raw enforcement powers of an Act of Parliament.

The immediate message to the maritime community is loud and direct: the era of arbitrary tariff regimes and parallel pricing structures is officially dead.

Under the new NPERA framework, the agency holds exclusive statutory powers to approve, review, or freeze Port costs.

Any shipping line or terminal manager attempting to introduce unapproved local handling fees or manipulative demurrage timelines will face immediate, binding legal sanctions.

Crucially, this new law draws a hard line under the chronic agency supremacy tussles that have choked national productivity for years.

The operational boundaries are now mathematically clear. The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) remains the technical landlord. NIMASA retains control over safety and marine security. NPERA steps in as the supreme financial and economic regulator.

Furthermore, the introduction of specialized administrative arbitration tribunals means shippers no longer have to endure years of delayed litigation in civilian courts to resolve commercial disputes.

Wrongful container detentions and predatory monopolies can now be penalised within a specialized regulatory framework.

However, stakeholders must understand that this transition operates on a tight bureaucratic clock.

While the policy freeze on unapproved tariffs is immediate, the next 90 days will see the formal gazetting and full asset migration into the new legal structure.

By late 2026, mandatory statutory registration for all active maritime service providers will become an unyielding reality.

The signature on the bill is a massive victory, but paper alone cannot clear a port corridor.

The newly empowered leadership of NPERA must immediately deploy these legal teeth to smash the manual bottlenecks and parallel checkpoints that undermine our trade velocity.

The law has changed, the referee finally has a whistle, and the industry must align with this new enforcement reality.

Chief Ibrahim Nasiru, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja

–-target waste, pollution, boost navigation, fisheries and blue economy

Funso Olojo, Editor

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), in partnership with Parts Central Limited, is set to launch a nationwide environmental initiative aimed at tackling pollution, indiscriminate waste disposal and debris choking Nigeria’s inland waterways.

The pioneering programme, which seeks to turn waste recovered from the waterways into economic value, is expected to simultaneously improve navigation, create employment, protect aquatic biodiversity and strengthen Nigeria’s fisheries economy.

Government officials and key private-sector stakeholders across the maritime sector have been invited to the official unveiling of the initiative scheduled for Tuesday, August 18th, 2026, at Bic Garden, Lagos.

The project was conceived under the leadership of the immediate past Managing Director of NIWA, Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji, and represents an ambitious attempt to introduce a structured and sustainable approach to the management of waste across Nigeria’s inland waterway network.

The initiative will identify major sources of pollution and indiscriminate waste disposal, deploy organised systems for removing waste from the waterways and develop mechanisms for converting recovered waste into economic opportunities.

According to the promoters, the programme is designed not merely as a clean-up exercise but as an environmental and economic intervention capable of supporting communities that depend on the waterways for their livelihoods.

Beyond Cleaning the Waterways

A major objective of the programme is to improve the navigability of Nigeria’s inland waterways by removing debris and other pollution-related obstructions that impede the movement of boats and watercraft.

The initiative is also expected to contribute to the conservation of aquatic biodiversity, much of which remains poorly documented, while creating a cleaner and healthier environment for aquatic life.

Stakeholders believe that cleaner waterways could have significant implications for Nigeria’s fisheries sector, particularly communities whose livelihoods depend heavily on fishing and other water-based economic activities.

The project therefore places environmental sustainability at the centre of the broader economic development potential of Nigeria’s inland waterways.

Blue Economy Gets Fresh Push

The initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s emerging blue economy strategy, which seeks to move Nigeria’s maritime resources beyond their traditional use for transportation and exploit their wider economic potential.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has consistently advocated the strategic development of Nigeria’s inland waterways as important assets for economic diversification, employment creation and sustainable development.

The partnership between NIWA and Parts Central is expected to provide a practical pathway for translating some of these blue economy objectives into grassroots environmental and economic interventions.

Oyebamiji’s Legacy

The initiative also represents one of the major sustainability programmes associated with the tenure of Oyebamiji as Managing Director of NIWA.

Oyebamiji, who is now the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Osun State, had placed emphasis on improving the capacity and functionality of Nigeria’s inland waterways during his tenure.

The nationwide waterways clean-up programme is expected to build on that environmental and sustainability agenda by providing a structured framework for tackling one of the persistent challenges confronting inland water transportation and the wider aquatic ecosystem.

Stakeholders seek buy-in

In a joint statement, NIWA Lagos Area Manager, Engr. Sarat Braimah, and Managing Director of Parts Central Limited, Henry Olaoluwa Onifade, said the Lagos unveiling was designed to properly brief stakeholders on the initiative and secure their support for its implementation.

They stressed the importance of collaboration among government agencies, private-sector operators, waterfront communities, environmental stakeholders and other participants in the maritime ecosystem to achieve the objectives of the programme.

The partners said the success of the initiative would depend significantly on broad stakeholder participation and sustained commitment to responsible waste management.

With Nigeria’s inland waterways stretching across a vast network of rivers, creeks, lakes and navigable channels, the initiative is expected to provide a platform for a more coordinated national response to waterway pollution while unlocking new opportunities in waste recycling, environmental services, fisheries and other components of the blue economy.

The August 18 unveiling in Lagos will therefore mark the formal beginning of what the promoters envisage as a nationwide environmental intervention to make Nigeria’s inland waterways cleaner, safer, more navigable and economically productive.