The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has dismissed and rejected insinuations that the newly launched National Single Window project by federal government is a failure on arrival or a project programmed to fail from the outset.

The National Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service, Dr. Abdullahi Maiwada, stated this at the Second National Seminar of the Media Anti-Corruption Initiative, organized in conjunction with Hynek Media in Lagos on Wednesday.
The national image maker was represented at the event by Deputy Superintendent of Customs, DSC SD Torme.

Addressing the concern, DSC Juliana Destiny Tomo mnipr said: while reacting on some of the comments on the possible failure of the NSW project, said:
“My CGC, who is a PR person, before becoming the Comptroller-General of Customs. I want to believe that if he had sat here this morning and listen to hear that there was a pre-planned agenda to fail in the single window project, he will want to say something and that’s why I became restless.”

He stressed that the Nigeria Customs Service has never anticipated the project to be a failure. “The Nigeria Customs Service is not anticipating that the national single window project to be a failure or by any of the parties involved in it,” the Customs said.

Giving background on previous efforts by the service, he added: “For the national single window project, the Nigeria Customs Service in 2013 had a programme such as national single window. And of course, that national single window was what brought about what is called the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report, PAAR and of course, we later had what was also called NICCS I & II and that equally brought about B’Odogwu.”

“So, we the Nigeria Customs Service as a revenue generating agency arm of the federal government, we are not anticipating any failure of this national single window project. And I don’t want to believe that any other government agency in this single window project would have such plan,” the service assured maritime stakeholders.

Comparing Nigeria with other countries that have implemented the system, the Customs representative said: “But the fact remains that developing countries such as Nigeria, yes, we are still developing. There is no harm in trying. We are trying to grow and we are trying to develop.”

DSC JD Tomo however, prayed for the success of the project: “And my colleague on the high table said ‘Amen’ to a comment someone said earlier. So, I will not say amen to failure. But I want to say, by the grace of God it will be a success. Because with man, certain things look impossible but with God all things are possible. The national single window will not be a failure,” and the audience chorused, amen!

Meanwhile, the NCS called on the general public to also disregard the allegation that the NSW is a duplication of the B’Odogwu, the Customs Modernisation project.

She informed that NSW is a system that encoporates all the agencies, ministries and stakeholders while the B”Odogwu is the customs platform for revenue collection.

Reiterating his earlier point, DSC Tomo added: “My CGC was the national image maker of the service before he became the present Comptroller-General of Customs. I want to believe this morning that if he is seated here this morning and listen to the talk that there was a preplanned agenda to fail the single window project… I know he will want to say something. And that is why I am restless here and wanted to say something.”

Speaking earlier while welcoming the participants , Mr Lucky Ogueri Dilichukwu Onyeji (Lod-O), the Project Coordinator, Media Anti-Corruption Initiatives (MACI) said the theme of the seminar on “National Single Window: Strategies to Avert Failure” is came at the right time.

Mr. Onyeju added:
“It is with great pleasure to welcome you to this 2nd Seminar of Media Anti-Coruption Initiative on the National Singles Window: Strategies to Avert Failures.

“On behalf of the Media Anti-Corruption Initiative, as an advocacy group committed to fostering corruption-free systems in management, administration, leadership, and governance, I warmly welcome you to this one-day seminar convened to safeguard Nigeria’s flagship trade facilitation project, the National Single Window.

“We are honored by the presence of eminent leaders from the finance, trade facilitation, maritime, and Blue Economy sectors. I acknowledge our Chairman, Aare Hakeem Olanrewaju of the Customs Consultative Committee, and Co-Chairman, Hon. Kingsley Igwe, Registrar of the CRFFN. We anticipate the keynote address by Dr. Segun Musa, Lead Consultant at Global Transport Policy, and the insights of our distinguished panel of maritime experts.

According to the Project coordinator,
“We are here because the National Single Window matters. Projections indicate it can reduce transaction costs by up to 25 percent and increase government revenue by 20 percent. Yet Nigeria’s reform history teaches us that promising projects fail without transparency, coordination, and vigilance. For that reason, our sub-themes are deliberate.
Transparency in the Single Window Project: A Key to Sustainability_ and _Inter-Agency Rival-Free Collaboration for NSW Success,”.

The project coordinator further said that the seminar was a platform for candid dialogue. We have assembled leaders from the Nigeria Customs Service, freight forwarding associations, indigenous terminal operators, regulators, and civil society to align around a single vision: a seamless, corruption-resistant trade ecosystem. The risks confronting the NSW, from inter-agency rivalry to opacity, must be examined now, not after failure.

“MACI holds that sunlight remains the best disinfectant. By fostering open conversation and shared accountability today, we help avert the setbacks that have undermined similar initiatives across the continent,” Mr. Onyeji.said.