By Eguono Odjegba

The recent promotion of 3,466 officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, which included the special promotion of the Chief Superintendent of Customs cadre downwards by the Nigeria Customs Service Board, NCSB, has been dogged by controversy, following complaints of unfairness, imbalance and arbitrariness in the exercise.

Interested parties and officers and men who felt left out said the exercise is a violation of the civil service procedure and have urged the NCSB to either immediately review the exercise to cover all personnel or in the worst of circumstances, cancel the entire promotion; or risk been dragged to court.

The complainants note that the exercise is no more than act of wickedness, official charade, abuse of constitutional provisions and procedures and career injustice that will generate bad blood, demoralize officers and men, kill efficiency and productivity in the system.

The decision of the board was reportedly based on the need to address critical succession gap said to have opened up in the service, especially within the Assistant Comptroller and Deputy Comptroller cadre, in view of recent cumulative promotions and retirements. The promotions and retirements are believed to have outnumbered the service’s succession plan through recruitments and promotions.

Affected officers between 1992 to 1994 sets, who are either on the same rank or even senior ranks argue that by the current promotion, many will have fallen below in rank, and effectively become junior officers to their peers, who donned the sane rank before the current exercise.

They further explained that this sudden rise in rank is neither by promotion or special performance but purportedly on entry qualifications, which they contend is not a clause for promotion in the civil service procedure. They therefore faulted all official assertions that supports the beneficiaries controversial promotion as acts of lawlessness driven by bias and lazy thinking, noting that the possession of B. Sc degrees or its HND equivalent as entry point is only tenable for advertised entry rank and inconsistent with qualification for career progression.

The unhappy officers said that even though some of them enlisted with lower certificates, most have since upgraded into higher certificates, first degrees, masters and doctoral degrees.

Those who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid official harassments said the decision of the management which was ratified by the board is the most insensitive decision in the customs, and warned that the negative fallout could take the customs ten years backward. They lamented that the exercise merely re-enact some of the low points in the prior administration; a regime they say thrived on nepoticism and mediocrity that paved the way  for illegal and arbitrary promotions and postings, which were incidentally reversed by the present leadershhip.

Speaking on the matter, a serving Chief Superintendent of Customs said, “Imagine me, l entered the service with OND and have risen through the rank. I have done my very best for the service, I do my job and I know that l know my job.

“I have been part of several enforcement activities that have given the service serious commendation and improved its image. At the point some big politicians and top government functionaries, including lndian rice merchants known as RIMIDAN were blackmailing the Customs for allowing smuggle rice into the country to destroy their investments, l was part of about four special anti-smugling teams at both Seme Command and the Federal Operations Unit combating smugglers and making huge seizures in the jungle and the highways, sometimes taking the fight straight to their dens in volatile border communities along Seme-Badagry axis, Badagry-Owode, ldiroko-Owode axis and other locations.

“Sometimes we suffer diabolic attacks, some officers in some of the teams l have worked were beaten with charms, some never recovered their mental state, all just to save the customs image. See how they are paying me back.

“If l write a promotion exam and l don’t pass, l will not blame anybody, l will give compliment to those that passed and become my senior. But how can a DSC who joined the service after me suddenly become my superior? The worst part is that all of us will write other promotion exams and there is no way l can catch up.”

He continues: “This is a very poor and wicked arrangement. Promotion is conducted according to law, what management and the board have done is an abuse of the civil service procedure; they know it. It is undemocratic, it is arbitrary, it is nepotic and very wicked. Honestly l feel like l should just walk away from customs right now, because l am feeling very bitter. Government shouldn’t shortchange its work force this way; it is going to be counterproductive. I will just sit down and be looking henceforth, my mind is no longer in the job; please quote me, just leave out my name.”

Also speaking to our reporter in confidence, a retired Deputy Comptroller of Customs said, “I have friends and two relatives in the service, one of my relation benefitted from the promotion bonanza, but l am not happy; that’s just the truth. If you’re granting special promotion that is not based on performance, it should go round.  You see, l think some persons must have misled the Customs Comptroller General, he does not condone double standard.

“l am also shocked that the Minister of Finance, who is the board chairman, who holds critical governmental positions and understands how the civil service procedure work, fell for this tragedy, it is a tragedy. It is embarrassing, it is unjust and unfair; they must fix the mess if they don’t want the system to collapse. Imagine at a time the service is daily being pressed for more and more collection of revenue, which is another foul deal on its own, they are setting officers against one another. I feel very sad because as a former officer, the service is part of me.

“They say they want to close gap, but again have erected another gap, because if you analyze the situation, by moving the 2009/2011 squad by one rank up, board has created a gap. That is the truth, and that is not how to address problems of succession default.  Once you realize there’s threats of gap in ranking or the work force , the right thing to do is to progressively increase your intake until you balance off the gap.

“Simultaneously, you consider a well articulated promotion exercise, either yearly or even twice a year, to fill the gaps as they open. I guess this is part of the reform and restructuring the CGC was appointed to deal with” he enthused.

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum has also expressed concern about the development, and have criticized the application of entry qualification by the NCSB as unjust; even as the forum have asked the authorities to repair the damage and give all officers and men a sense of belonging.

Yerima Shettima, National President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum described the promotion process and NCSB approval as a ‘national calamity’, and have called on the relevant authorities to immediately undertake a remedial cause of action.

“At this point all l want to say is that the customs management and board should right the wrongs before it robs off on the service monthly revenue collections. Those given special promotion and those not given are all working towards the same goal. It is unfair to divide them not by productivity but some funny entry educational qualification.

“Yet some of these officers you say came in with lesser qualifications now have higher qualifications, some even doctorate degree. It is not fair to treat our workers this way, let management provide a level playing field when there are openings to be filed.

“We have decided to support those who wish to sue the customs for this unjust action if they fail to consider others for the special promotion.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the Customs National Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Timi Bomodi  about the feelings of those condemning the action of the NCSB was not successfully, as at the time of filling this story.

However, in a message he dropped in a journalists/customs PROs WhatsApp group, he defended the action of the board taken on March 29, 2022, saying the development was in order and necessary to avoid imminent succession crisis in the service.

He said, “Suffice it to say every organisation plans both for the present and the future. What seemed apparent for the future of NCS if nothing was going to be done about the present, is the emergence of a yawning chasm in the horizon that most certainly would have left the Service in disarray.

“This decision was borne out of necessity. Its expediency when juxtaposed against its present impact would eventually vindicate the decision of NCSB. Indeed many options were also considered within the framework of Public Service Regulations, PSR. Let’s just say this was the best of the lot.”