Brief History of Nigeria Custom Service

What is now known as the Nigeria Customs Service – a paramilitary organisation, could be said to have been established a little over a century ago when the British Colonial administration appointed Mr. T. A. Wall, in 1891, as the Director-General of Customs for the collection of inland Revenue in Niger Coast Protectorate. This is the formalization of the duties which the Department had been performing under the Royal Niger Company under the leadership of the past Chief Executives.

The name Department of Customs and Excise emerged in 1922 when the first Comptroller of Customs and Excise, Federation of Nigeria was appointed. Towards the end of 1945, the Customs and Excise Preventive service was established under the leadership of Mr. Nicol – a Briton. This was made up of two divisions – Maritime and Preventive.

The maritime Division has the responsibility of collecting import and excise duties and other related functions while the Preventive Division was responsible for enforcement duties which included prevention of smuggling as well as arrest and prosecution of smugglers.

Sequel to the promulgation of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) No. 55 of 1958 the affairs of the Department were brought under the management of a Board. The Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise was made the Chief Executive Officer of the Department. Mr. E. P. C. Langdon, a Briton, was appointed the first Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1959. Mr. S. G. Quinton succeeded him.

The attainment of independence in 1960 led to the Federal Government's Nigerianisation policy which brought about the appointment of the first Nigerian Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in the person of Mr. Ayodele Diyan in 1964. He died in 1968 and was succeeded by Mr. Henny Etim Duke.

Decree No. 7 of 1970 granted additional powers with the definition of the membership of the Board. Additional members were now to represent the Federal Ministries of Economic Development and Reconstruction, trade and Industries. The intention of this decree was to broaden the scope of the national interest which will make for better guidance in the Board's decisions .

With the change of government in 1975 the three top management personnel were retired from the public service and the post of Chairman of the Board was abolished and replaced with that of Director. By virtue of Decree No. 41 of 28th August 1975, all the powers that were hitherto conferred on the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Board were vested in the Director of Customs and Excise and his deputies.

Alhaji Shehu A. Musa, was on 28th August, 1975 appointed the first Director of the Department of Customs and Excise. His tenure was brief as he had the mandate only to reorganize the Board and Department of Customs and Excise. His proposals, which were breathtaking in depth and scope, were submitted within six months of his appointment.

Hitherto, the Department was operating as two parallel Services – Revenue (Technical) and Preventive (Enforcement). This parallel method of running the two services created serious conflicts and immense administrative problems. This seriously affected the overall efficiency and attitude of officers and men with the attendant negative impact on the image of the Department.

Thus on the 1st April, 1977 the first major reorganisation of the department took place. The present unified service of the Department of Customs and Excise was the result. Precisely this means unifying the Technical and Preventive Services into one integrated service where officers and men are to serve in any of the two without hindrance. The unification structured the Department into five main Directorates viz:
*.Customs Tariff and Trade;
*.Customs Enforcement Directorate;
*.Customs Investigation Directorate
*.Customs Inspection Directorate and
*.Customs Economic relations, Research; and Planning Directorate.

Each Directorate was headed by a Deputy Director. The overall head was still the Director, Department of Customs and Excise and Chairman, Board of Customs and Excise. In addition, there were four divisions whose headship was drawn from the pool of the Public Service. These were: Administrative, Legal; Finance/Accounts and Internal Audit. Mr. Oyebode Oyeleye was the first Director under this new arrangement.

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