Story by Dili Utomi.
The Tin Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service is the second largest Customs Command in Nigeria after the premier port Command at Apapa, this is in terms of size, volume and value. The Command was established after the development of the Port in the late 1970s under the then military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo and has over time played very important roles in the economic development of Nigeria.
There is an adage that says ‘things are usually created in twos’ and so with the economic potentials that the Port at Tin Can Island presents also comes certain notoriety that goes along with it. The Tin Can Island Port Command had over time acquired the terrible image of a place where cargoes go missing, duties are not properly paid, ‘flying of imported cars’, forging of documents, under declaration of cargoes and many others. Different Customs heads over time have tried to rid the Command of this terrible image with certain levels of performances and with varying degrees of successes.
On the 20th of December 2024, a new ‘sherriff’ came to town who by all intents and purposes has hit the ground running and has borrowed from some of the well known strategies of his predecessor while adopting his own strategies too.
Compttroller Frank Okechukwu Onyeka had been a valuation officer at the Tin Can Island Port Command and had performed so creditably well enough to warrant his movement to the Onne Area Command in Rivers State as the officer-in-charge, gate at the Command.
At the Onne Area Command also, he won the very first Customs Area Controller award for the best performing officer of the month under Comptroller Imam Baba and Comptroller Onyeka’s reputation as a revenue officer quite frankly precedes him.
The Tin Can Island Port Command CAC is well known for his interpersonal skills and this has rubbed off on his performance as stakeholders engagements have become constant weekly features at the Command.
A complete advocate of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi’s policy of consolidation, collaboration and innovation, Comptroller Onyeka has consolidated on some of the fine strategies that he met on ground while constantly calling on stakeholders, the press and the general public to continue to support the Command in its quest to meet its mandates.
This writer has been at different fora where the CAC had to meet with different stakeholders and certain ideas were suggested by those present, he has had to later implement some of these ideas and this singular tactic has largely contributed to the high performance that he is enjoying right now.
There has been constant and timely interventions on matters that are crucial to the operational stability and administrative control of the Command as all areas of operations are well geared towards optimal performance.
The January, 2025 revenue generation record shows a total of ₦116, 412,735,766.23 which represents 24.06% over and above the figure of ₦88, 430,126,122.76 recorded within the corresponding period of 2024. The record for February of 2025 also shows that the sum of ₦103,254,292,839.23k was generated which is also 2.90 % over and above the sum of ₦100,253,187,074.72k generated over the corresponding month of February 2024.
There has also been progressive increase in revenue generation as the ‘revenue man’ has been steadily, but surely mobilising all available resources towards making sure that revenue leakages are contained and that more revenues are pulled into the coffers of the government. He is generally seen as being straight forward and committed to the course of the service. His ‘Open Door’ policy with stakeholders- freight forwarders, importers and exporters alike and his usual invitation to them to go to his office for deliberations on germane issues are factors that endear Comptroller Onyeka to most stakeholders.
Comptroller Onyeka has on many occasions visited sister agencies in a bid to recommit to inter-agency collaboration and to cement the bond of cooperation that has effectively defined the scale of success achieved at the Command and his relentless pursuit of the ideals of cooperation has positively impacted on performance too. About two weeks ago, Comptroller Onyeka handed some seized narcotics found in 2×20 foot containers, worth over ₦8 Billion to the Tin Can Island Port Area Commander of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Mitchel Ofoyeju in accordance with laid down procedures.
Over all, the image of the Tin Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service is now seen in a much better light because of the direct influence of the new helmsman and it is hoped that the Command will continue to churn out more impressive performances as time goes by.
Going by all indications, his first 100 days that comes up this Sunday will witness an even better performance as the CAC’s continuous engagement with stakeholders has also constantly engendered much of the desired smoothness and near seamless operational environment. Better still the revenue generation for the month of March is also looking likely to break the corresponding periodl record and most of the stakeholders do agree that fittingly, Comptroller F. O. Onyeka is really a square peg in a square hole.
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