Imagine a well-trained, dynamic customs force efficiently safeguarding a nation's economic lifelines—not just as skilled professionals but as visionary leaders. This isn't a distant aspiration but an active transformation underway at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), fueled by the World Customs Organization's (WCO) Leadership and Management Development (LMD) program.
Following successful executive retreats and LMD workshops in 2016, NCS has again partnered with WCO to expand this initiative, which has already trained 49 senior officers. The program's impact was evident during a recent intensive session held June 11-22 at Nigeria's Customs Staff College in Abuja, where 19 high-ranking officials (9 comptrollers and 10 deputy comptrollers) participated.
Deputy Comptroller Anyawu noted the need for broader participation: "Given NCS's operational scale, we must involve more management tiers to create meaningful organizational change." In response, WCO is exploring training local facilitators to extend LMD access to mid-level managers.
Transformative Outcomes
Participants described their experience as a "basket of plantains"—a trove of professional enrichment yielding several key insights:
- Self-awareness: Recognizing personal strengths and growth areas to maximize potential
- Rebirth: Breaking entrenched patterns through reflective learning
- Active listening: Building cohesive teams by understanding member needs
- Leadership expansion: Developing comprehensive strategies for complex challenges
- Transformational courage: Driving innovation through calculated risk-taking
- Talent recognition: Identifying and nurturing team potential
- Change agency: Becoming catalysts for organizational evolution
Strategic Capacity Building
WCO's LMD program transcends conventional training—it's a holistic framework integrating leadership cultivation with operational optimization. The initiative addresses:
Leadership Excellence: Developing strategic decision-making, communication, and change management competencies that cascade through organizational hierarchies.
Operational Modernization: Implementing risk management protocols, performance metrics, and process efficiencies that have already yielded measurable improvements in Nigeria's customs operations, including streamlined clearance procedures and enhanced regional anti-smuggling collaborations.
Future Horizons
With plans to establish an internal LMD training cadre, NCS aims to institutionalize leadership development at all management levels. WCO continues supporting this growth through potential expansions into performance management systems and technological integration—critical steps toward maintaining Nigeria's economic security amid evolving global trade landscapes.