Mrs Nnena Akajemeli, the National Coordinator of SERVICOM has condemned a situation whereby Custom officers used one scanning machine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos.
Akajemeli made the disclosure when she presented SERVICOM report to the Comptroller General of Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali, on Tuesday in Abuja.
She had presented the Compliance Evaluation Reports (SCER) of three zonal offices of customs including the Abuja zonal Headquarters.
Akajemeli said that inadequate scanning machines implied the inability for custom officers to sniff out precious metals, drugs among others were questionable.
While presenting the CER to Ali, Akajemeli explained that the specific objectives of the visit was to identify the gaps in service delivery by the customs and making recommendations for appropriates steps for corrections.
“The overall objective of the SCER is to ensure citizen focused service delivery in MDAs. And the specific objectives includes identifying gaps in the service delivery and making recommendations to MDAs to improve customer satisfaction and accountability,“ she said.
The SERVICOM boss had also identified other weaknesses in customs` services to include inadequate forklifts at Apapa Ports.
She said that this inadequacies in particular had hindered the movement of heavy items for inspection by the customs.
Akajemeli added that such constraints could lead to the officers` incapability to detect hidden contraband goods coming into the country.
According to her, customers confirms the delay in obtaining the temporary pass permit for travelers along Jibia/Magama border.
Akajemeli, however, commended the initiative of automation of customs operations which enabled timelines to be set and adhered to for all applications and importers who now make their own declaration online.
She added that this among others are the tracking system at custom service zone C Port Harcourt, regular press briefing at Owerri Federal Operation unit zone, which had helped reduced instances of corruption and extortion.
Akajemeli said that if buffer zone was provided at the border in Seme-Kraker to properly differentiate communities from both Nigeria and Benin Republic, the issue of security risk and hoodlums attacks would be reduced.
In his response, Ali commended SERVICOM for its assessment which according to him, had pointed out areas where customs have done well and areas to take corrections.
“I appreciate you for coming to let us know who we are in the first place and the most important thing is what are we doing and how well are we doing it and what we are supposed to do.
“I think this moment is a call for sober reflection on what we have been doing. And I am glad that you did not mince words in telling us where we’ve got wrong and where we are making some progress.
“I am very happy with your findings, but we must also understand that enforcement in some areas of our services is never accepted and complimented by the recipients,” he said.
According to him, the challenge in custom is a global issue not only limited to Nigeria especially in checking containers that contained different goods.
Ali assured that customs would partner with SERVICOM to work on their weaknesses and improve on their mandates as assigned to them by the Federal Government.
SERVICOM was established in 2004 with mandates to provide effective public service delivery machinery in timely, fair, honest, effective and transparent manner to Nigerian citizens.
SERVICOM carried out its routine assignment in Kaduna and Port Harcourt Custom zonal offices.
SERVICOM also visited various Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on its SCER duties to ensure effective services delivery to Nigerians.
