Another Beautiful Evening for Nigeria Customs in Accra

By Abdulsalam Mahmud

Give it to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The agency is simply in a rare class of its own as far as institutional excellence is concerned.

The Bashir Adewale Adeniyi-led Customs has become a familiar name at the gala events of the International Public Relations Association’s (IPRA) Golden World Awards.

Last year, the Service was honoured in Belgrade, Serbia, for its outstanding crisis communication efforts. This year, the story continued — not just with another award, but with a renewed sense of pride and purpose.

On Friday night, October 3, 2025, at the Mövenpick Hotel in Accra, Ghana, the Nigeria Customs Service again took its place among the world’s most admired institutions.

In a hall glowing with soft lights and the gentle hum of conversation, its name was announced for the Golden World Award for Impactful PR in Customs Management — a recognition that carried both weight and grace.

Presented by IPRA President Nataša Pavlović Bujas, the honour celebrated the Service’s excellence in communication and the reforms that have made it a model of institutional credibility.

The winning entry — a publication authored by Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR) — documents the evolving communication strategies of Comptroller-General Adeniyi, MFR, and the transformation that has reshaped public perception of the Service.

According to Philip Sheppard, Secretary-General of IPRA, the work stands out as a practical reference for how leadership and communication can work hand in hand to rebuild public confidence. It captures real lessons from Nigeria’s experience and offers them to the wider world.

Receiving the award on behalf of the Service, the National Public Relations Officer, Assistant Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, expressed both gratitude and pride.

He said the award was a validation of the Service’s commitment to professionalism, transparency, and stakeholder engagement. “Under the leadership of the Comptroller-General, we have repositioned communication as a strategic tool for reform and trust-building,” he said.

It was a moment of quiet satisfaction — another chapter in the Service’s growing international recognition. The 2024 victory in Serbia for Crisis Communication had already drawn wide attention across the media.

But this year’s honour felt more profound, carrying the sense of a story that is still unfolding — one of progress built on credibility, and of communication used not as decoration but as direction.

The award ceremony was part of the Public Relations Knowledge Sharing Conference, held from October 1 to 3 at the Accra International Conference Centre.

The gathering, themed, “Global Realities and Innovative Communication,” drew a distinguished audience of communication leaders from across the continent and beyond.

Among them were Dr. Ike Neliaku, President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR); Arik Karani, President of the African Public Relations Association (APRA); and Esther Amba Numaba Cobbah, President of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Ghana.

The presence of these figures under one roof reflected the growing voice of Africa in shaping global communication values.

At the closing of the conference, Ghana’s former President, John Dramani Mahama, gave a speech that lingered in memory.

He urged communication professionals to uphold integrity and competence in their work, reminding them that “our nations need communicators who speak for progress, not propaganda.” His words were met with knowing nods — the kind that come from shared conviction.

Ghana’s Vice President, Jane Nana, also congratulated the award recipients, commending their contribution to transparency and public accountability. She described the night as a celebration of voices that use truth as a tool of service.

For the Nigeria Customs, the evening in Accra was more than an award night. It was a quiet reminder of how far an institution can go when it learns to speak with honesty and act with purpose.

The Service has travelled a long way from the days when it was seen only as an enforcement body. Under BA Adeniyi, it has become an institution that listens, engages, and explains itself with clarity and calm.

This latest honour is more than just another award. It represents a journey built on consistency, sincerity, and quiet transformation.

Every recognition adds to the growing confidence that communication, when anchored on truth, can rebuild trust and strengthen institutions. The Service has shown what it means to lead with purpose — to blend discipline with dialogue, and duty with empathy.

It has become a reference point for how an agency can reform itself from within and earn respect through results, not rhetoric.

That is why this moment will be remembered not just as a win, but as a reflection of how far the Service has come under a leadership that understands the power of engagement and integrity. Indeed, it was another beautiful evening for Nigeria Customs in Accra.

Mahmud, Deputy Editor of PRNigeria, is reachable via: [email protected].