Nigerian Maritime Journalists (NMJ) has concluded an arrangement to confer the award of ‘Iconic Maritime Personality of the Year 2024’ to Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The need for the Nigerian maritime media practitioners to honour the CGC is a unanimous decision by all maritime journalists covering the maritime beat, cutting across print, electronic and online media, led by the different beat associations.
These include the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN); the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN); the League of Maritime Editors (LOME); the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON); Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN); Online Maritime Media Association of Nigeria (OMMAN) and Congress of Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CONMMEP).
They believe that CG Adeniyi has registered sterling and excellent performance since he assumed office as the Customs CGC.
According to a nomination letter sent to the CGC by Innocent Orok, the Secretary, of the Award Planning Committee, the CG has redeemed and repositioned the Service in the areas of revenue collection, anti-smuggling activities, trade facilitation, national security, staff welfare, inter-agency collaboration, infrastructural upgrading, Information and Communication Technology, and Corporate Social Responsibility.
The letter further states that Adeniyi’s record-breaking performance has attracted national and international laurels to him, Custom Service, and Nigeria as a whole.
“Unarguably, it is partly for these reasons that the Leadership Newspaper Group recently honoured you with the award of the Public Service Personality of the Year”.
“We, the maritime journalists, comprising print, electronic and online media covering the beat, are happy to be part of this history-making with you as partners in progress.
“In appreciation of your superlative performance and, by extension, your unrelenting support to the media, especially the maritime media, we nominate you as the Iconic Maritime Personality Of The Year”.
On his part, Dele Aderibegbe, the chairman of the Award Planning Committee said the award is coming at no better time than now that the Federal government is looking for focused and dedicated leaders to take the Nigerian economy out of the woods.
According to him, “This honour is very symbolic. First, this is the first time in the maritime sub-sector that all the journalists covering the beat will come together to honour a deserving performer per excellence, who has made the Customs and Nigeria proud with his purposeful, professional and patriotic leadership.
“Secondly, the Nigeria Customs Service under Adewale Adeniyi has been reconnected to international frontiers and leading in revenue collection, anti-smuggling activities, trade facilitation, ICT, modernisation, and inter-agency collaboration, among others.
“This honour by maritime journalists is also to set an agenda for other agencies of government and their appointees that the ever-vibrant and dogged maritime media are watching them.
“We are inviting special guests, especially other agencies’ heads and maritime stakeholders to come and witness this great event, which is the first of its kind in the Nigerian maritime industry,”
The award ceremony is coming up on Thursday, 16th January 2025 in Lagos.
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