As technology continue to revolutionize modern ways of revenue collection, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is also moving with technological trend in driving its mandate.
The Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi has already stated that the Service will prioritize non-intrusive methods of checks at the ports as part of technological drive if the organization.
Subsequently, one of the game changers in simplifying revenue collection and trade facilitation is the Trade Modernization Project which has been described as a game changer by stakeholders.
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About Trade Modernization Project (TMP)
Trade Modernization Project (TMP) was introduced by the Service in 2022 to consolidate on the gains of revenue generation.
The project has a target of $250 billion in revenue for the federal government when the project, which was inaugurated in June 2023, is completed. TMP Ltd said it would invest $3.2 billion in 20 years.
Providing insights on the Project, Ahmed Ogunsola, TMP’s general manager (GM), said “This is a 20-year project that commenced in 2022. We are currently in phase one, and we will move to phases two and three at the appropriate time. We have made significant deliverables with the project,” Ogunsoa said.
“Customs s will continue to perform all customs activities; none of those have been concessioned to anyone. They will continue to man all their stations.
“All we are doing is providing systems and platforms as well as services that enhance those functions and activities of the NCS.
“Phase one of the project covers year one to six, phase two covers years seven to 13; phase three is year 14 to year 20.
“Phase one is that all systems must be deployed, hardware, software, technological services. Phase two we continue to manage.
“In phase three, we also do that but the significance is that TMP will take a back seat and customs officers will now be the ones doing the work.”
Also, CSC. Abdullahi Maiwada, spokesperson of the NCS, said it is necessary to give an update to stakeholders and the public on the project.
“This project started some years ago, and we need to update members of the press, the public, and generally our stakeholders on what we are doing so far in trade facilitation, which is the core and at the centre of what we are doing,” Maiwada said.
“The benefit of the trade modernisation project, let me be more specific with you, is in terms of trade facilitation, efficiency in customs delivery, and in terms of revenue generation. That is the essence of modernization.
“Automation of our processes and procedures is part of our efforts to make sure that we facilitate trade and effectively collect revenue for Nigeria.”
Checkmating extortion
Additionally, the project is set to check the extortion of traders by facilitating the comprehensive tracking of their goods from the beginning of the trade process until delivery which will be done through the Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), a software that would be deployed to monitor all stages of the transactions.
Chief Superintendent of Customs, Usman Abba, Head, Business Analyst for the project, while providing further explanations stated that by using the software, traders would be able to know when and where there were hitches in their transactions for redress.
Abba said the system would eliminate fraudulent intent and expose those who take advantage of clients who cannot properly track their goods with the current system to extort them.
“ This is the platform where the trader has access and is able to track all the stages of transactions, and know where the challenge or exactly the issue is until the goods are delivered,“ he said.
He said that the service had received numerous reports of agents attempting to extract additional funds from their clients, by falsely claiming that their goods had not been cleared by customs when the process had already been completed.
According to him, the software, which will soon be inaugurated, is designed to have information on all transactions, including payments and goods clearance, to enable the trader to act as required.
“So the trader can log in and see where exactly the goods are, also after he makes payment, he can see through the system that the payment has been done, and even how much has been paid.
“He can even see that the consignment has stepped out from the port, because we have the gate acknowledgement.
“It means that when the truck is moving out, the system will update that the consignment has been gated out because the system allows integration with the terminal operator “ he explained.
Meanwhile, Ogunsola has also assured that the project will revolutionalise revenue collection in the Service, optimizing cost and boosting efficiency.
