The Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), has been awarded Honourary Fellowship by the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), on Tuesday at the Customs Headquarters, Abuja.
During the brief ceremony, the CGC charged the Senior Officers of the Nigeria Customs Service to maintain the standard and reputation of the Service, going forward.
The Award was conferred on the CGC for his exceptional integrity and contributions to the rapid development he brought to the Nigeria Customs Service in recent years.
Recall that Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) assumed duty as the Comptroller of Customs on the 27th of August 2015 – and has implemented numerous radical policies that transformed the Nigeria Customs Service.
The CGC who expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Institute’s Governing Council and Management led by Dr. Ilyasu Gashinbaki for the historic honor, assured them of his commitment to transfigure NCS into a much better agency.
“I want to express my gratitude to God for His Mercies. There’s nothing one can achieve without His will – and I want to thank Him again for this opportunity. I want to tell you that this is one of the most important awards I have received in my life because it addresses my core principles of believing in what to do and standing by what to do,” CGC Hameed Ali said.
“I am sure you have your metrics for measuring people’s integrity, and I know that anybody who is believed to have an element of integrity, must sacrifice a lot to maintain the status – and I have sacrificed a lot,” he added.
He said that the award, though carrying his name on it, was an achievement for the Nigeria Customs Service – and must be maintained, going forward.
Conferring the prestigious award to him, the Institute’s President and Chairman of the Governing Council, Dr. Ilyasu Gashinbaki, described CGC Hameed Ali’s award as exceptional, as it represents his professionalism and integrity.
“Sir, I wish to tell you that this award is the first of its kind after our charter. The first one, before our charter, was conferred on President Muhammadu Buhari, on the 21st of May, 2022. And you are now the first person to be honored with this award in the whole country,” Gashinbaki said.
The Chairman CIFCFIN highlighted that they decided to honor CGC considering the rapid development he brought to NCS, his outstanding performance while serving in the military, and his unquestionable integrity.
