Why Buhari gave Ali Customs job

The need to get the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to optimise its potential as the
nation’s cash cow informed President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of Col.
Hameed Ali as its Comptroller-General, the Presidency said at the weekend.
Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba
Shehu said the government believes that the Customs Service could triple its revenue
target.

Fielding questions from reporters, he said: “Do you, in all sincerity, know Col.
Hameed Ali?
“If you do know him, how many of his types do we have in this country? This is the
man who many probably felt should have gone to head the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC). But, looking at the critical place of the Customs in the
economy of this country, you need somebody like him.
“After oil, the next revenue spinner for the government is the Customs. In these few
days we have been listening to briefings, I have seen people flying ideas that
Customs revenue can be tripled and that there are ideas that can lead to the revenue
being tripled on the basis that corruption is eliminated.
“I think that Col. Ali has a rare breed of reputation that will be difficult to find. There
might be a few people in the Customs, but maybe they are too low in rank to
warrant this appointment.
“I think the President has done the best thing anybody can do for the Customs and
for the economy of this country. Otherwise, smuggling will ruin Nigeria. Look at what
is happening in the textile industry in Aba, Ikeja, Kaduna, Kano and Gashua.
“There was a time when they used to employ about 400,000 people. All the textile
companies in the country today can no longer employ more than 30,000 people. We
have more Nigerians in need of clothing today than those so-called glorious days of
the textile industry. This is just one example.
“Look at the issue of rice. Ebonyi, Anambra, Niger, Osun, Kebbi, Sokoto and Kogi
states have been brought together by the President and given the marching order to
produce the rice need of this country. The rice industry in this country has failed
because cheap Asian rice is being dumped here. The President did not ban
importation because that would have offended the World Trade organisation (WTO).
“What he has done is to say if you want to import rice, go and source your dollars
anywhere you can get it. But the CBN and the banks will always supply to
manufacturers who want to bring in spare parts, equipment and employ Nigerians
and for those who want to pay for medical bills abroad and maybe for school fees.

The Nation