Tin Can Customs Breaks Revenue Records With ₦1.45 Trillion, Bags Awards Amid Software Transition
Kathy Kyari
The Tin Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has posted one of its strongest performances in recent years, generating a total of ₦1.45 trillion between January and November 2025, despite operational disruptions caused by its transition from NICIS II to the new Unified Customs Management System, known as the B’Odogwu platform.
The Command also generated ₦135.21 billion in November 2025, making it the fourth-highest monthly revenue performance of the year. This figure surpasses the ₦120.19 billion generated in the corresponding month of 2024.
In addition to revenue growth, the Command intensified anti-smuggling operations. In October, officers intercepted illicit drugs including Cannabis indica, methamphetamine, and other hard substances worth ₦5.304 billion, concealed in imported containers.
Though the roll-out of the B’Odogwu platform came with initial technical difficulties, the Command “has been able not only to weather the storm, but also to perform impressively well,” according to internal assessments.
Some officers described 2025 as “an incredibly record breaking year in spite of the apparent hitches that occurred while transitioning from the NICIS II to the B’Odogwu software platform. It has been such a remarkable year despite all the challenges and this has been crowned with the awards at the CGC’s Conference last week.”
At the recently concluded Comptroller-General of Customs Conference, the Tin Can Command won two major recognitions for the “Best in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)” award and a Special Recognition Award in B’Odogwu Implementation.
The Command’s performance has been linked to the leadership style of the Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Frank Okechukwu Onyeka, who prioritised stakeholder engagement upon assumption of duty, meeting critical industry players individually to strengthen collaboration and compliance.
“The journey has been made easier with the dismantling of various operational bottlenecks,” another officer noted, adding that operations “have been very well streamlined and will even be more streamlined with the introduction of the one-stop-shop, the national single window project which comes up next January".
"The stakeholders are now more than ever before complying and we have made the place rather uninhabitable for illegitimate traders. Those engaged in the importation of unCustoms goods no longer find the Command a safe haven for their illicit trade.”
Comptroller Onyeka, known for his focus on revenue generation, anti-smuggling, and legitimate trade facilitation, has also adopted global tools such as the Advance Ruling System and the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme to enhance efficiency.
Although not given to many words, he often emphasises his commitment to “seamless trade facilitation while keeping his gaze on the protection of the national economy and of course the generation of needed revenue.”
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