By Admin2
Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi, an Apostle and Nation Builder as well as the President, Voice of His Word Ministries, is the Convener, Apostolic Round Table (ART). Akinyemi, BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, aka PVC Naija, is a strategic communicator and CEO, Masterbuilder Communications. In this piece for Sunday Independent, he writes on implications of tenure elongation for both the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Controller General of Customs (CGC).
Though Nigerians were suspicious of the tactical approval of Mr. President’s endorsement through his congratulatory message, the fact of life that courtesy required of Mr. President and all well-meaning Nigerians is to congratulate Mr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the Controller General of The Nigeria Customs and Excise Services and that is what President Bola Tinubu served on our behalf.
Congratulations, Mr. Adeniyi. Unfortunately, this is coming at a time when Nigeria is bleeding from every pore — riddled with insecurity, ravaged by economic sabotage, and strangled by corruption at every layer of governance — the election of the Comptroller-General of Customs, as Chairman of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Council, adds little or nothing of substance to our national condition. It is, at best, an ornamental achievement, and at worst, a dangerous distraction from the raging fire we are failing to quench at home.
Yes, it sounds prestigious. Yes, it offers photo-ops and glowing headlines. But, what does it do for the thousands of illegal arms crossing our porous borders daily? What impact does it have on the flourishing smuggling economy that cripples local industries, kills jobs, and empowers criminal networks?
Nigeria is currently in a border war, not of conventional combat, but of infiltration—through unchecked smuggling of weapons, contraband, and substandard goods. The Customs Service is underperforming at its most critical assignment: protecting the territorial economic integrity of Nigeria. And yet, rather than consolidating efforts internally, we are popping champagne over a ceremonial global position that lacks the force to change our local realities.
Let it be said without ambiguity: this WCO chairmanship is a textbook case of image without substance. It is public relations for a government obsessed with optics and perception, while the house is on fire. Adeniyi, no doubt a seasoned PR strategist, fits this role perfectly—but Nigeria doesn’t need another salesman at the international table. We need a border warrior, a reformer, a commander against smugglers and traffickers of death.
What the nation desperately requires is not a flag planted at the WCO headquarters in Brussels, but a Customs Service that can decisively block the inflow of arms, seize illicit drugs, dismantle smuggling cartels, and protect our land borders with the urgency of a nation at war. We do not need international applause. We need internal results.
It is hypocrisy at its peak to hail Adeniyi’s election while bandits, gunrunners, and smugglers overrun our borders daily. Until the Nigeria Customs Service secures the homeland and asserts control over the gateways of our economy and security, no foreign title can sanitise the rot.
Let the government stop chasing foreign clout. Let it stop substituting image-making for real governance. A country in crisis must invest in content, not cosmetics. Anything less is delusion dressed in regalia.
The engagement from my article titled, “a spent horse in a nation at war: why IGP Egbetokun must go” has been very interesting!
Critical to our fight against insecurity is the Customs Service that must protect our borders from the smuggling of arms ammunition and the police service that must secure Nigerians and their properties.
Many friends and followers have called to make cases for Egbetokun! But sane societies are built on the tripod of justice, equity and fairness!
President Tinubu more than anything else is saddled with the responsibility to transit our insane society to a sane society on the tripod of justice, equity, and fairness! He is the one, to ensure the following: Justice—giving everyone what they deserve under the law and morals; Equity—acknowledging differences and distributing resources to level the playing field; Fairness—treating all with impartiality and consistency. Justice punishes or rewards; equity adjusts for context; fairness ensures equal opportunity!
A sane society institutionalises these through accountable governance, inclusive policies, and a culture that values every human life equally, correcting imbalances without breeding resentments.
Justice draws strength from the law or what we could term legality. That something is legal doesn’t make it equitable or fair!
Egbetokun, like I said, is a spent horse for the race of effective security of Nigeria! During his visit to Bokkos Local Government after the unfortunate terror attacks of December 2023, he promised a brand new unit of the police for the specialty approach that such a terror attack required and that Bokkos will house the training institute of the promised unit. If Bokkos had been a reality, maybe Yelwata would not have happened!
I am not confused about the explanation of the President regarding career duration which is by law pegged at 35 years of service or 60 years of life, whichever comes first, neither am I challenging the authority of the President to extend the services of anyone he so desires by appointment to serve him and the country within the years of his mandate, which could be four or eight years as Nigerians will eventually decide in 2027.
A President in hope of extension of his mandate for another four years must avoid decisions that may halt career progression of 371,800 officers presently in the service of the force, not counting the plan of the government to add 280,000 enlistment!
You can put in jeopardy the movement of 651,800 within the system because of one single person! My reason for this cry is because another of our tribes men is due for his terminal leave onward his retirement. President Tinubu can’t afford to hold down the careers of 30,000 officers of the Customs Service, this will have a spiral effect on their dependent political decisions.
It will strengthen opposition accusations of Mr. President as being a tribal bigot. Such a burden shouldn’t be carried into the year before the election, It will backfire!
The greatest undoing of leadership in Nigeria—past and present— remains the dangerous practice of exempting individuals from the general rule. It is a subtle, often quiet abuse of power, but its consequences are loud: weakened institutions, disillusioned citizens, and policies that limp rather than lead! Mr. President should avoid that route.
Today, the evil of tenure elongation stares us squarely in the face again, with Adeniyi a Yoruba and a Muslim, threatening to stain the reformist posture of the Tinubu administration.
It is a pattern Nigeria knows all too well—extending the tenure of favoured officers beyond their legally mandated service years under the guise of “national interest,” “ongoing reform,” or “presidential discretion.”
Mr. President, any decision or action of yours that may leave Nigerians with the “impression” of you as a bigot of tribe and religion must be avoided. When rules are bent, institutions break!
Examples abound: In 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan controversially extended the tenure of the then Inspector-General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, by one year—sparking uproar.
In 2021, former President Buhari extended the tenure of Mohammed Adamu as IGP by three months, only to replace him abruptly after public backlash!
The tenure elongation of top military chiefs, service heads, and public servants has become a recurrent breach of civil service protocol, further undermining succession, planning and professionalism in service.
The President should not go into the next election to evaluate how displeased Nigerians are with his extension of the IGP and the CG tenures. Now, the Customs Service Is on the brink!
The tenure of the current Comptroller-General of Customs, Adeniyi, is at the centre of this troubling conversation. President Tinubu must resist the temptation to tow the path of selective retention.
The Customs Service is one of Nigeria’s most critical institutions in this new era of tax reform, trade facilitation, and economic diversification. Any perception of manipulation at its helm will undermine the credibility of the very policies we are trying to push—especially with the recent assent to four new tax-related bills!
The CG of Customs, like others before him, has served the system. But his exit should not be a matter of sentiments or presidential discretion—it should follow the law!
Adeniyi was expected to have proceeded on a mandatory three-month terminal leave, marking the end of his tenure. Adeniyi’s terminal leave was set to begin on May 5, 2025, after the 62nd regular board meeting of the NCS. Adeniyi has submitted a request for tenure extension to the President, while we were awaiting the decision of President Tinubu, we heard of Adeniyi’s “unanimous election”, like the cry of a witch in the night and the death of the baby in the morning. Tenure extension of the IGP is the motivation on which the CG has the courage to make the request.
Allowing him to overstay through extensions would be an injustice to other qualified officers, and a betrayal of the very meritocracy President Tinubu promised.
Why President Tinubu must let him go: Institutional Renewal: Every leadership transition offers a chance to re-energise an agency. Customs must not become a retirement extension desk!
Younger, visionary officers must be given a chance to drive 21st-century customs practices in line with digital trade, border security, and global best standards.
Moral Consistency: The burden of IGP Egbetokun’s tenure elongation is already weighing on the integrity of this government. Nigerians are watching. A second breach in Customs will signal a disturbing trend of favouritism over fairness, particularly given that the individuals concerned are his tribesmen!
Policy Alignment: With the new tax bills signed into law, we need an agile, proactive Customs Service that aligns with the fiscal philosophy of the Tinubu administration. Retaining an outgoing CG may reinforce the old order, not reform it!
International Best Practices: In the United States, the heads of Customs and Border Protection are politically appointed and serve at the President’s pleasure—but their tenure rarely exceeds the standard transition cycle. No extensions!
In the UK, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is led by professionals who retire at due time! Tenure manipulation is unheard of!
Even in Ghana, where customs is under the Ghana Revenue Authority, CGs are replaced at appropriate intervals to maintain institutional flow!
This is a test of President Tinubu’s leadership. Mr. President, every tenure elongation chips away at public confidence. Every exemption from the rule sets a dangerous precedent! Your administration has a chance to reverse this rot!
It is left to Mr. President to prioritise the all-important mandate of building Nigeria back to her enviable global economically or accept the distraction of decorative hollow global medals that add no strength to our efforts to come out of economic woods.
Mr. Adeniyi could also save the President from his sentimental attachment to a medal 158 countries unanimously decorated “us with”. If it’s of economic worth and developmental value, I don’t think 158 countries will leave it to Nigeria without a contest.
The path to a prosperous Nigeria is not just paved with policies, but with principled leadership. Let the CG of Customs decline the chairmanship of WCO and retire with honour from Nigeria Customs Service. Let successions take its natural, legal, and institutional course!
True reform is not in rewriting tax laws alone. It is in rewriting our loyalty to rules, rebuilding trust in governance, and respecting the rhythm of institutional growth! Nigeria watches! History will remember!