Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 ,
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Corruption rocks Customs recruitment exercise • Candidates present fake and forged certificates that from the very beginning the e ntire exercise were fraught with corruption because the GE falsification, Customs website through forging of which applicants were aclmowledgement card by suppose to apply was applicants and other sharp opened for only two days. Customs source further and corrupt practices rocked the recently Pisclosed that most of the ' concluded recruitment applicants failed to read iind exercise into the Nigeria the , 'Conditions Customs Service (NCS) . instructions before filling Besides the sharp the forms on·line. practices by applicants, The source explained that highly placed Nigerians there were different ' hijacked the entire process category for different by ensuring that their own applicants adding that for candidates are recruited to level 8 and 9 the a the revenue collecting requirement . was university degree with a agency. Vanguard gathered that, good pass while level 7 highly placed Nigerians required a Higher National including serving officen; Diploma (HND) as against . of the service also ensured Ordinary National that their candidates were ' Diploma (OND) .and also favoured in the National ' C ertificate of Education (NCE)"required recruibnent exercise. ' C ustoms source for levels 5 and 6 di s closed that over For levels , ~ and 3 West 800,000 applications were African School Certificat,e received for 2,000 (WASC) , G. 4 were required vacancies, an indication of to fill these vaci¥\cies. the high level of It also gathered that unemployment in the because of the surge, most . country. of the applicants could not Applicants who spoke to access the website and Vanguard on the condition when they did, they did not of anonymity said that this follow the instructions a~ was· the worst test and degree applicants applied interview they have ever for HND jobs and HND attended. Some of them said that holders applied fO,r jobs meant for degree holders . they got the exam center Vanguard learnt thal early as 7 a. m and did not leave there until 3 p. m due because of the desperation to shabby manner the of most of the applicants, a exams and interview were lot of fake and forg e d certificates were presented conducted. The applicants disclosed and tlie C ustoms had a STORIES 'BY GODWIN ORITSE
hard time sorting out these fake certificates and forged aclmowledgement cards.
It will b e recalled that the las t but one recruthnent e~ercise carried out about
four years ago was also fraught with irregularities and corruption as married
and pregnant woman were recruited into the Service.
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-Prom L to R Barrister Mal/hew Egbadon Legal Adviser; Nigerian MarJllme AdministratIon and Agency (NIMASAj Mr Patrick Apkobolokeml Director-General NIMASA and Captain Balyee Suleiman Consultant to the marine waste management plant 01 Ali-Jean Circle Pollution management company when NIMASA f>anagement vlsJled the plant at the Snake Island In Lagos. . " ,
Ban onJice: Group blasts Customs on inadeqiJate payment of duty group , Trans Boarder Traders Association of Nigeria (TBTAN) has blasted the leadersh;"p of the Nigeria Customs Service for its
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inability to collect adequate import duty on rice imported through land borders. President of the group Alhaji Mukaila Okunola
who spoke to Vanguard in Lagos said that the reason being the inadequate collection of duty on the commodity is an indictment on the Customs
NIMASA committed to implementation of IMO convention THE Management of 1. the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agepcy (NIMASA) has restated its commitment to the effective implementation of the provisions of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Marpol 73n8 Convention as it relates to the management of the nation's Marine Environment. NIMASA:s Director General, Mr. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi stated this when he led the Agency's Management on a facility tour of the operations o~ the African Circle Pollution Management limited located in the Free Zone Enterprise on the Snake Island in Lagos, The DG'S visit to the African Circle w.fls p a rt of efforts to ensure tha t the provisions 01 th e !MO MARPOL 1 ():'3/78
Conventions as relates to Circle for the lagos requirements in Managing adequacy of Port Reception operations which he Waste in our Marine facilities in the country are described as the best in Environent you will agree West Africa , the' DG with me that it is worth complied with. Mr Akpobolokemi advised them to work at Government support to disclosed that the Agency improving operiitions in ensure growth." he said. wi)1 support PUblic Private Port Hacourt, Calabar, Mr. Akpobolokemi also Partnership model to Warri and Onne Ports , declared that the Agency will , He noted that investment lookatissues based on IMO , facilitate effective mallagement of Ship in Waste Management in regulations and Nigerian generated waste within the th,e Nigerian Marine laws in working out the Nigerian marine · and Environment will not only guidelines that will provide Coastal environment improve the country 's the ideal environment to adding that a roadmap on rating in the global grow the bus iness of Marine Waste maritime industry, but'also managing waste generated Management in Nigeria have a multiplier effect of in the Nigerian marine will soon be made public. employment generation in environment He said that Regulations Niger\a amongst others. The NlMASA helmsman "It is, to the benefit of assured that the Agencywill of the International Maritime Organization .' Nigepans that this PUblic ensure an annual audit of (lMO) and Nigerian laws Private Partnership model , the facility so as to maintain were taken into of managing waste in our IMO standard 'adding that consideration in arriving . Marine Environment is their level 'of compliance at the road map structured sustained and encouraged with the Nigerian Local to ' provide the ideal to grow rapidly. We are Content Act is quite platform to grow the commited to the growth of encouraging. b-usiness of Managing this industry. Because if you Consultant to the African Waste generated in the look- at the manpower Circle Pollution Nigerian Maritime development, employment Management limited , Enyironment. generation. economic Captain Baiyee Suleiman ""hile commending the activities, besides the fact commended Mr l ..-j.::..nagement af African that they help us m eet 1MO Akpobolokemi for being the
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first DG of NlMASA to visit thefacility. He said that over 100,000 tones of both solid and oily wastes are processe d daily at the facility in Lagos . Capt. Suleman also said that only port and habour operations are covered at the moment adding that work is in progress to provide effective coverage for other areas. He said that the company is working at improving the local content of the project "we are working at importing a sewage plant and then clo.an others locally. This is part of our desire to improve on the local content of the project thereby creating more jobs for Nigerians" he said On disposal of 'sewage waste received from Vessels in Lagos, Captain Suleiman said that the company hands it over to Lagos State Government for onward disposal in an environmentally frien'd ly manner.
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Service who 'has failed in its duty. I Okullola stated that the decision to ban importation through land border is \, nti people adding that it has cause the ~, loss of jobs to: thousands of Nigerians involved in the trade. . The group's president noted a few Nigetian elites .. with their foreign cohorts who want to domina te the trade and control the price have been able to lobby government and convinced the Minister of Finance to put a stop to importation of rice through approved borders . He noted that since the ban, the price of rice has sky rocketed , to the satisfaction of a few Nigerians and to the loss of thousands of people involved in the trade .. He however chiillenge the leadership of the Customs service to convince government that it is capable of collecting every duties and levies on rice and any other commodity. "Failure to do that is an, acceptance to the fact that Customs has failed in its duty as revenue colle'c tion 'and if this is the case, then I think we should have a change of leade rship in the agency ".