By Suleiman Aremu | Solaremnews
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has earned international recognition after its flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, Customs Cares, won the prestigious Commonwealth Environment and CSR Gold Award in Glasgow, Scotland, in recognition of its outstanding contributions to sustainable development and community empowerment.
The award, presented on Friday, July 31, 2026, honours organisations that implement measurable, sustainable and community-driven interventions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Customs Cares initiative emerged as a standout programme for its significant impact in the areas of education, healthcare, food security and environmental sustainability across Nigeria.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Timi Bomodi, described the honour as a major milestone in the ongoing transformation of the Nigeria Customs Service.
According to him, the international recognition validates the Service’s commitment to creating value beyond its traditional responsibilities of revenue generation and border management.
“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,” Bomodi said.
Speaking on the significance of the award, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, attributed the achievement to the enabling environment created by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which he said has encouraged public institutions to pursue people-centred development initiatives.
He disclosed that since its launch, the Customs Cares initiative has positively impacted more than 10 million Nigerians across 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory through a wide range of interventions, including the renovation of schools, healthcare projects, provision of clean water, food support programmes and the implementation of the Green Borders Initiative.
Adeniyi noted that the initiative was not only delivering physical infrastructure but also strengthening the relationship between the Nigeria Customs Service and the communities it serves.
“Beyond every classroom renovated, every borehole commissioned and every tree planted is something even more enduring; trust,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the Governor of Tharaka Nithi County in Kenya, Muthomi Njuki, stressed the importance of global collaboration in addressing climate change and environmental challenges.
He said no nation could tackle the climate crisis in isolation, adding that accountability, partnerships, innovation and shared responsibility remained essential for building a greener, safer and more prosperous world.
The Comptroller in charge of Corporate Social Responsibility, Mbwiduffu Ibrahim, described the award as a strong motivation for the Service to deepen its community engagement and expand the impact of the Customs Cares programme.
She said that while the Service had always considered the positive impact on communities as its greatest reward, the international recognition demonstrated that its efforts had gained global acknowledgement.
“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,” Ibrahim said.
According to the organisers, the Nigeria Customs Service received the prestigious Gold Award for its innovative Hub-and-Spoke Community Activation Model, a framework that has enhanced the delivery of sustainable community development projects across the country.
The organisers added that the award further reinforces the Nigeria Customs Service’s growing reputation as a modern Customs administration that combines effective revenue generation, trade facilitation and border security with a strong commitment to sustainable development and social responsibility.
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