By Sabiu Abdullahi
In his support for sports within the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, expressed his commitment to encouraging officers engaged in sports activities.
According to the customs service spokesperson in a statement on Monday, this announcement came on Sunday, January 15, 2024, during the Polo Tournament between Customs Players and the Nigeria Army at the Nigeria Army Polo Resort in Abuja.
CGC Bashir Adeniyi said, “We will consider officers who have expressed interest in the Polo game here to be the nucleus of our team — and we will give similar encouragement to other Officers to engage in the game.”
Impressed by the NCS representatives’ performance, he declared, “I am quite impressed with what I have seen, and this will mark the beginning of the resurgence of Polo Games development in Customs.”
Highlighting the importance of physical fitness, CGC Bashir Adeniyi noted that maintaining officers’ health directly impacts the NCS’s performance in revenue generation, trade facilitation, and smuggling suppression.
“Our job is a very serious one: generating revenue, facilitating trade, fighting against smuggling — and these are serious callings. It requires us to be physically and mentally fit, as doing so will help maintain a delicate balance between the requirements of our work and the need to stay fit,” he remarked.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Army Polo Association (NAPA), Major-General Adamu Garba Laka, organized the tournament to celebrate Army Remembrance Day and honor CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR.
Major General Laka urged other security agencies to emulate the NCS by engaging their staff in Polo activities, stating, “The easiest way to do that is to invite the big men to come and appreciate their players like CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.”
Major-General Laka recalled the game’s introduction to Nigeria in the 60s by Colonial Masters.
The victorious NCS Players, honored with major trophies, received awards from dignitaries including Major-General Adamu Garba Laka, Director-General and CEO of Voice of Nigeria Jibril Baba Ndace, and Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in-charge Headquarters Olaniyi Alajogun.
Representatives at the tournament, Chief Superintendent of Customs Jamilu Haruna Funtua and Superintendent of Customs Aminu Labaran Kago, expressed gratitude to CGC Bashir Adeniyi for his morale-boosting presence.
They pledged increased efforts for future matches, aiming to bring more trophies to the Nigeria Customs Service.