Nigeria Customs Holds High-Level Workshop to Drive Trade Reforms

By Zainab Uzomah

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has concluded a two-day management workshop aimed at accelerating trade facilitation reforms and improving the ease of doing business across the country. The training, held from 22 to 23 January and organised in partnership with Reverso Business Services Limited, underscored the Service’s renewed push for digital modernisation and the removal of bureaucratic delays along Nigeria’s trade corridors.

The initiative forms part of wider reforms under Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi, who is seeking to strengthen institutional capacity, align Customs operations with global standards and position the Service as a catalyst for economic growth. Senior officers spent the final day of the workshop examining global trade trends, digital transformation and the evolving responsibilities of modern Customs administrations.

Adewale Adeniyi, addressing participants, highlighted the rapidly changing nature of international trade and said the NCS was implementing reforms to remain agile and forward-looking. “Our environment will continue to be very dynamic. What will not change is Nigeria’s expectation that Customs will contribute meaningfully to economic prosperity, public health and national security,” he said. He urged officers to uphold high professional standards, describing the ongoing reforms as a deliberate effort to build an accountable and responsive institution.

Ayokunnu Ojeniyi, Founder and Chief Executive of Reverso Business Services Limited, praised the NCS for its openness to innovation. He said sustained capacity-building was essential for effective trade facilitation. “If you don’t take change by the hand, it will seize you by the throat,” he told participants, urging them to apply the lessons from the sessions to improve performance across their commands.

The workshop is in line with the NCS’s broader modernisation agenda, which includes automation, stronger stakeholder engagement and strategic partnerships aimed at boosting service delivery and overall trade efficiency.