Maritime Journalists Celebrate Customs Comptroller-General as "2024 Iconic Maritime Personality of the Year"
Kathy Kyari
Nigerian Maritime Journalists are set to roll out the red carpet for the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, as he is conferred with the prestigious title of “Iconic Maritime Personality of the Year 2024.”
This remarkable decision was unanimously agreed upon by maritime journalists representing the diverse media landscape—print, electronic, and online.
Leading the charge are the sector’s respected associations, including the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN), League of Maritime Editors (LOME), Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON), Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN), Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN), Online Maritime Media Association of Nigeria (OMMAN), and the Congress of Maritime Media Practitioners (CONMMEP).
The journalists say their decision was inspired by CG Adeniyi’s outstanding performance since stepping into his role as Customs boss.
In a nomination letter addressed to the CGC by Mr. Innocent Orok, Secretary of the Award Planning Committee, the commendation was clear: “There is no gainsaying you have redeemed and repositioned the Service in all areas. These include revenue collection, anti-smuggling activities, trade facilitation, national security, staff welfare, inter-agency collaboration, infrastructural upgrading, Information and Communication Technology, and Corporate Social Responsibility, among others.
“It is also incontestable that your record-breaking performance has attracted national and international laurels to you, the Service, and Nigeria as a whole. Unarguably, it is partly for these reasons that the Leadership Newspaper Group recently honoured you with the award of the Public Service Personality of the Year.
“We, the maritime journalists, comprising both print, electronic, and online media covering the beat, are happy to be part of this history-making with you as partners in progress.
“In appreciation of your superlative performance and, by extension, your unrelenting support to the media, especially the maritime media, we nominate you as the ICONIC MARITIME PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR.”
The Chairman of the Award Planning Committee, Dele Aderibigbe, also underscored the significance of this honour, describing it as a reflection of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He said, “This honour is very symbolic. First, this is the first time in the maritime sub-sector that all the journalists covering the beat will come together to honour a deserving performer per excellence, who has made the Customs and Nigeria proud by his purposeful, professional, and patriotic leadership.
“Secondly, the Nigeria Customs Service under Adewale Adeniyi has been reconnected to international frontiers and is leading in revenue collection, anti-smuggling activities, trade facilitation, ICT, modernisation, and inter-agency collaboration, among others.
“This honour by maritime journalists is also to set an agenda for other agencies of government and their appointees that the ever-vibrant and dogged maritime media are watching them.”
The much-anticipated event will hold on Thursday, January 16, 2025, at the Apapa Port Customs Command Auditorium. The award ceremony will commence at 12 noon and will see other agency heads and maritime stakeholders gather to witness this historic moment in the Nigerian maritime industry.
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