Global Recognition for Nigeria Customs as Customs Cares Wins Commonwealth Gold Award
Global Recognition for Nigeria Customs as Customs Cares Wins Commonwealth Gold Award
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has earned international acclaim as its flagship Corporate Social(CSR) initiative, Customs Cares, won the Commonwealth Environment and CSR Gold Award in Glasgow, Scotland, on Friday, 31 July 2026.
The award celebrates organisations with measurable, sustainable, and community-driven interventions that advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Customs Cares distinguished itself through impactful projects in education, healthcare, food security, and environmental sustainability across Nigeria.
Receiving the award on behalf of Comptroller-General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs (DCG) in charge of Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Timi Bomodi, described the recognition as a defining milestone in the Service’s transformation journey:
“This award is both humbling and inspiring. It affirms our belief that public institutions create their greatest value not only by fulfilling their statutory mandates, but by improving lives and strengthening the communities they serve.”
Adeniyi attributed the honour to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that Customs Cares has reached over 10 million Nigerians in 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory through school renovations, healthcare projects, clean water initiatives, food support, and the Green Borders Initiative.
“Beyond every classroom renovated, every borehole commissioned and every tree planted is something even more enduring: trust,” he said.
Governor of Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya, Muthomi Njuki, also underscored the importance of climate action and partnerships:
“No country can solve the crisis alone. Through accountability, partnership, innovation and shared responsibility, the world can become greener, safer and more prosperous.”
The Comptroller in charge of CSR, Mbwiduffu Ibrahim, emphasized that the recognition would spur the Service to greater heights:
“For a long time, we worked believing that the impact in our communities was reward enough. Today, this international recognition tells us that those efforts have not gone unnoticed.”
Organisers highlighted NCS’s innovative Hub-and-Spoke Community Activation Model as a key factor in its win. They noted that the award reinforces NCS’s reputation as a modern Customs administration committed not only to revenue generation, trade facilitation, and border security, but also to sustainable development.
