By Fola James
Comptroller Mohammed Uba Garba was on the field with his men, last week, bursting smugglers in their various hideouts when the hardworking officer received a signal that he has been promoted to the rank of Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, ACG.
For an officer whose mantra is ‘loyalty and service’ to Nigeria, the promotion could not have come at a better time, considering that he deserved the new rank, and was already due for it.
For instance, Mohammed had taken the test and passed, unlike his other contemporaries. He has also met all other criteria required to be promoted to the elite class of ACG.
In fact, top sources in NCS told the magazine that the lanky, no-nonsense customs’ officer should have been promoted to the new rank long ago, save for some administrative encumbrances at the customs headquarters in Abuja, which had put his promotion and others on hold.
The scriptures that says “a vision is for an appointed time, though it may tarry, wait for it, it shall surely come,” is very true of ACG Mohammed who did not allow himself to be distracted by the delay in his promotion.
He must have consoled himself with this truism waiting for those saddled with this special assignment to do their job, knowing that God’s time is the best.
But thankfully, it eventually came.
“The Customs Board, headed by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed and CG, Hameed Ali have just decided, few days ago that the promotion should go ahead and needed not be delayed further, because doing otherwise could kill the morale of officers whose promotion have been long overdue,” a top customs brass in Abuja said this morning.
The Nigeria Customs Service Management announced last week that Mohammed has been promoted acting ACG and will now head the E,I&I.
The Board also announced the promotion of two new acting Deputy Comptrollers General of Customs, DCGs and four other acting Assistant Comptrollers General of Customs, ACGs.
Indeed, the promotion, close watchers of NCS said, is a reward for hard work and dedication which ACG Mohammed has been known for.
It’s also a pointer that his superiors in Abuja, though very far from the dangerous jungles, that dot the many borders in the North Central, where ACG Mohammed and his men have been toiling day and night, to deter dare devil smugglers from sabotaging the nation’s economy; have not forgotten him, and by this promotion, expressed their satisfaction, certifying him good enough to proceed in his career at a higher level.
ACG Mohammed has never disappointed wherever he served and has been affirmed so by his superiors, and rank and file who have been privileged to work closely with him at various times in Owerri, Imo state; Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Ikeja and Seme Customs Command, from where he was redeployed to Ilorin, Kwara state last August as the Coordinator Joint Border Drill Operations North Central Zone, Sector 3 Ilorin.”
Since then, he has been adding feathers to his cap in terms of the smuggling rings, he alongside his men, has burst and the country is the better for it, because the criminals, who have been operating unfettered before ACG Mohammed arrive Kwara, are now being forced to have a second thought anytime they are moved to commit a crime.
“The controller has served us a red card since he came last year. It was not like that in the past, even after the federal government said all land borders should be shut, we still had skeletal operations. Many of us are not happy that our source of livelihood has been taken from us since Oga came to Ilorin, a frustrated smuggler who did not want his name mentioned, told the magazine on Monday.
Some smugglers have been in joyous since Mohammed’s promotion was announced last week, hoping that anytime soon he will move to Abuja, never to give them problem again, sources in border communities along Barunti said.
But typical of ACG Mohammed, he’s not prepared to go back to CG Ali in Abuja empty handed; that would stain his long record of sterling performance, he must have told himself as soon as the signal came that he would no longer be addressed as a Comptroller.
Therefore, the past few days have been a very hectic one for all the officers and men of the sector, as they try to consolidate on the gains of the last 24 months of tightening the once porous border communities in the five Northern states of Kwara, Kogi, Benue and Niger states.
From all indications the effort has yielded good results. ACG Mohammed can now rest assured that by the time the CG meets him in Abuja to decorate him with his new rank, he will have something tangible to present to him, top among which is the assurance that smuggling syndicate in Alapa, Chikanda, and Babanna axis amongst others have been reasonably decimated.
Mohammed’s bosses in Abuja will also be pleased that huge seizures have also been made in the last few months from various raids, sometimes in the dead of the night by the ACG and his eagle-eyed men of the sector, who are not prepared to let the country down in the face of marauding smugglers that threatened its economic survival.
The seizures include 23,449 Bags of Rice, 1212 Bags of fertilizers made between July 26 and now, with a total Duty Paid Value, DPV of over N127 million.
The breakdown of the seizures, Mohammed told journalists recently include 55 units of assorted vehicles, 17 motorcycles, 608 Drums of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, 469 Jeri Cans of 25 litres of AGO 2, 794 Bags of foreign Rice equivalent to 46 trailers; 114 Cartons of HIV Drugs without NAFDAC Number, among others.
Speaking to the magazine on the promotion, a DCG told the magazine that “we believe ACG Mohammed will be spurred to do more for country and God.’ indeed.
