The acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, on Thursday, met with the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesome Wike, to solicit lands in FCT to build schools.
This was contained in a statement by the National Public Relations Officer of the service, Abdullahi Maiwada on Friday.
In the statement, Adeniyi who congratulated Wike on his appointment, explained the importance of FCT in nation building.
“FCT holds a pivotal position in Nigeria, and I believe that by getting it right in FCT, we can get it right in Nigeria,” he stated.
“We anticipate transparency and integrity, and we believe that Nigerians will look forward to a smart and proud FCT”, he added.
The CGC emphasized the need for policies to support the service in fulfilling its mandates in the FCT considering the substantial presence of over 2,500 service personnel in Abuja.
The customs boss pointed out the challenge of sending the children of customs personnel to private schools in the city.
“To ameliorate the problem, I am making a compassionate appeal to the minister for the allocation of land to enable the construction of primary and secondary schools for the children of customs personnel in Abuja,” he added.
In his response, Wike assured the CGC of his commitment to allocate land for facilities that will serve the service’s needs.
Wike also promised his unflinching support to make his tenure a successful one.
The former River State governor said his ministry had recently received NCS’s letter of request for land allocation which, according to him, will be approved in due course.
“Our policies, like that of Nigeria Customs Service, is to generate revenue to carry out projects in Abuja, but considering the good intentions of the CGC to establish schools to ensure quality education, we are ready to approve NCS’ request”, Wike stated.