Customs Renovates Ife Girls High School, Offers University Scholarships to Top Students
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commissioned a fully renovated Ife Girls High School in Ile-Ife, Osun State, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, Customs Cares.
The project was commissioned on Monday, 14 September 2026, with the NCS describing the intervention as part of its broader commitment to supporting education and improving the learning environment for Nigerian children.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, urged students of the school to take advantage of the improved facilities and remain committed to their education.
Adeniyi stressed that education remained a critical pathway to improving the prospects of individuals, families and communities, urging the students not to allow difficult circumstances to distract them from their academic pursuits.
He said: “Education is the passport that you need for a better life, for a better future, not just for you, but for your parents, your community, and the country. It is education that’s going to make a difference in you, irrespective of how difficult it is for you.”
The CGC also announced university scholarships for the three best-performing students of the school, challenging the beneficiaries and other students to reciprocate the NCS intervention by taking their studies seriously.
According to him, the scholarship programme was intended to provide additional motivation for students to excel academically while demonstrating the Customs Service’s wider commitment to youth development.
“What this means is that I have thrown the ball into your court. I now want you to reward me back,” Adeniyi said.
He explained that the renovation of Ife Girls High School was not an isolated intervention but part of the NCS’s wider CSR programme being implemented in different parts of the country.
“What we are doing today is part of our wider corporate social responsibility programme, which we are executing in different parts of the country,” he said.
The intervention comes against the backdrop of growing emphasis on improving the quality of Nigeria’s public education system, particularly through partnerships involving government institutions, corporate organisations and other stakeholders.
At the commissioning, the Osun State Commissioner for Education, Dipo Eluwole, described the NCS intervention as a significant milestone for education in the state, noting that the project went beyond the refurbishment of buildings.
Eluwole said the scope of the intervention demonstrated an understanding of the importance of creating an environment in which students and staff could function effectively.
“This is indeed a comprehensive intervention. It addresses the school’s educational, administrative, sanitary, recreational, environmental, and worker needs,” he said.
According to the commissioner, the quality of a school’s physical environment could have a direct bearing on the well-being and learning experience of students.
He added: “It demonstrates an understanding that for students to learn effectively, their physical environment must also support their well-being.”
The commissioner commended the NCS for extending its social intervention to the education sector and for investing in facilities that would serve students and staff beyond the commissioning ceremony.
The Principal of Ife Girls High School, Martina Akinremi, also expressed appreciation to the Customs Service for the intervention, saying the investment represented a contribution to the future of the students.
Akinremi pledged that the school would ensure that the renovated facilities were properly maintained and utilised to their full potential.
The renovation and scholarship initiative form part of the Customs Service’s Customs Cares programme, through which the agency undertakes social interventions in communities and institutions as part of its corporate responsibility.
For the students of Ife Girls High School, the intervention provides not only an improved physical environment but also a scholarship opportunity that could support the academic progression of the school’s highest-performing students into university.
The NCS’s intervention also highlights the growing role of public institutions in complementing government efforts to address infrastructure and human-capital development challenges within the education sector.
