Nigeria Customs Opens 2025 PR Workshop in Kano, Urges Officers to Uphold Integrity, Build Stakeholder Trust
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Monday formally opened its 2025 Public Relations Officers (PROs) Workshop at Bayero University, Kano, charging participants to embrace professionalism, innovation, and integrity as vital tools in safeguarding the Service’s image and strengthening stakeholder confidence.
Declaring the workshop open at the Centre of Excellence, Twin Theatres, Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, who was represented by Acting Deputy Comptroller-General (Ag. DCG) in charge of Enforcement, Inspection, and Investigation, Timi Bomodi, highlighted the central role of public relations in Customs operations.
He described the NCS as operating at the “confluence of revenue generation, trade facilitation, and national security,” noting that every decision taken by the Service carries wide-reaching consequences for Nigerians, the business community, and international partners.
“In such a sensitive environment, communication must go beyond announcements and ceremonies,” he said. “Our actions may speak, but it is the voice of public relations that interprets, contextualises, and gives meaning to these actions. That is why this workshop is not just a routine exercise, but a strategic investment in the future of the Service.”
The workshop, themed “Beyond Masters of Ceremony: The Strategic Role of Public Relations Officers for Institutional Growth and Stakeholder Trust”, is designed to reposition Customs’ image managers as strategic players in policy interpretation, reputation management, and stakeholder engagement.
Bomodi urged officers to master digital communication, artificial intelligence, and crisis response, warning that the rapid spread of misinformation in the digital age demanded sharper communication skills.
He reminded participants that their work would often be tested by crises and criticisms, but that professionalism, integrity, and courage must guide their choices.
He also praised the collaboration between Customs and Bayero University as “a bridge between scholarship and practice,” and assured that capacity building would remain a cornerstone of Customs reforms.
Students from the university were also welcomed to the workshop as part of efforts to blend academic training with practical field experience.
Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, represented by his Director-General of Media, Sanusi Bature, commended the NCS for its role in safeguarding national security, facilitating trade, and generating revenue.
He stressed that while PR officers must adapt to innovations such as artificial intelligence, digital analytics, and social media, the human values of honesty, empathy, and responsibility remain irreplaceable.
He also lauded the Service’s National PRO, Assistant Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, for setting a benchmark in building public trust, describing the workshop as a timely platform for advancing professionalism in public relations practice.
Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Professor Haruna Musa, welcomed participants and assured of the institution’s continuous support for the training and development of Customs officers. He said the university was proud to host a programme that “blends theory with practice in preparing officers for the demands of modern communication.”
Delivering a paper, President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Ike Neliaku, underscored the importance of strategic communication in nation-building.
He urged PROs to see themselves as vision-bearers who must move beyond managing perception to shaping credibility and trust upon which effective governance rests.
Also speaking, Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, former Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, stressed the transformative role of social media in public communication.
He encouraged Customs officers to deploy online platforms as tools of transparency and accountability while remaining vigilant against disinformation.
Other experts and facilitators expressed optimism that the four-day workshop would sharpen participants’ communication skills, improve stakeholder engagement, and strengthen the Service’s corporate image as a modern, forward-looking institution.
