Abiodun praises Customs as CG visits proposed N73 billion zonal office/training school in Ogun

 

●Says Olokola Deep Sea Port, LNG project to come soon

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on Thursday said the location of the proposed Nigerian Customs Service Zonal Office and Training School at the Gateway Agro-Cargo International Airport would be an opportunity to enhance the state’s status as an industrial hub of the nation.

The project, he added, would also help the proposed Kajola inland port and Olokola seaport, which he said would soon come online, just as the federal government is planning to revive a liquefied natural gas project in the area.

Governor Abiodun made this known when he and the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, visited the premises of the proposed Zonal Office/Training School of the Nigerian Customs Service in Ilisan, Ikenne Local Government Area.

He said that the state-planned Deep Sea Port and Dry Port would open the state to more investment opportunities, which would have a positive impact on people’s lives.

According to the governor, the school’s location near the Agro-Cargo Airport would enable the Customs to carry out its duty of ensuring due process for the import and export of goods entering and leaving the country.

He commended the Comptroller General for ensuring the continuity of the project, stressing that with the advent of the Olokola deep sea port and liquefied natural gas projects in the State, the presence of the Customs could not be overemphasized as it was essential and appropriate.

The cargo airport, the governor said, is strategically located to provide access to the Lagos-Ibadan and Sagamu-Ore-Benin highways, adding that it was built to encompass the special agro-processing zone and an industrial park for the processing of goods for export and local consumption.

“Our airport is strategically located. It was built to encompass the Special Agro-Processing Zone because of the state’s uniqueness as the number one producer of high-quality poultry, cassava and cotton.

“Your presence is a vital addition to our state scoring high in ease of doing business in Nigeria. Every investor who wants to invest will ask if the customs is there. Comptroller General, you are completing our giant strides. Under your leadership, the customs will be the best in the world,” the governor said.

The governor explained that the Comptroller General has instituted several commendable programs that have improved the functioning of the service.

In his address, the Comptroller General said a similar project was underway in Kaduna State, adding that the facility was needed to expand his Federal Task Force in Lagos and relocate the zonal office to Ogun State.

Adeniyi, while assuring that the project could be completed ahead of schedule, also announced the establishment of a Customs University in Lagos, saying that budgetary allocations and approvals have been provided for its take-off.

The Ilisan-Remo training school, the Auditor General argued, is a 73 billion naira project and would create direct and indirect jobs for hundreds of people in the area, hence the support of the government and the people of the state is needed to make it a reality.

“Ogun State has played a key role from the inception of this project to date. The project is to support what the governor is doing to enable his people enjoy the dividends of democracy. We are happy to join the vision of the state government to transform the state into a bigger economic giant.

“The rest of Africa looks at us as leaders and after the completion of this project, no customs in the entire African corridor will come close to us,” Adeniyi said.

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