The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, have renewed efforts to strengthen their long-standing institutional partnership. Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, has pledged deeper collaboration in research, infrastructure support, and student development.
Adeniyi gave the assurance on Tuesday at the Customs Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja, while receiving the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi, and other principal officers during a courtesy visit.
The Customs boss said the Service is determined to revive and expand its years-long engagement with the university, formerly known as the University of Abuja. He stressed that the relationship has already produced significant institutional support in the past.
“I have a long institutional history with this university,” Adeniyi said. “During my tenure as Commandant of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, we made serious efforts to formalise a partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding. We made considerable progress and were close to signing, but leadership changes on both sides stalled the process.”
Despite the stalled agreement, Adeniyi noted that the Service continued to support the university through strategic interventions aimed at improving learning and institutional capacity.
“At different times, we supported the university with transportation facilities, including the provision of a 32-seater bus. We also established a fully equipped computer centre with close to one hundred workstations. These were deliberate efforts to build lasting institutional partnerships,” he stated.
The CGC assured the university management that the Service would review fresh proposals for collaboration, particularly projects capable of delivering measurable impact on students and the learning environment.
“For us, beyond legacy, what matters most is impact,” he said. “We understand the realities facing Nigerian universities, from transportation challenges to infrastructure gaps. Our interest is to support initiatives that create a conducive learning environment and positively affect students.”