PHOTOS: CG Adeniyi in high spirits as Customs PRO Maiwada bags NIPR Corporate Spokesperson of the Year Award
The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi could not hide his joy on Wednesday after Chief Superintendent of Customs and National Public Relations Officer of the Service, Abdullahi Maiwada won the highly competitive Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Corporate Spokesperson of the Year Award.
The award presentation held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, venue of the Institute’s just concluded four-day National Spokespersons Summit with the theme: ‘Change Narratives, Change Society’.
The visibly elated CG led other Customs staff to the the podium where Maiwada received his award.
According to the organisers, Maiwada’s transformational strides since assuming office less than a year ago (April 2023) stood him out of the pack to take home the prestigious award. They noted further that the Customs spokesman’s rich media and communication background, membership of professional bodies, tech savviness all had a profound impact on his successful turnaround of the Public Relations unit of the Service.
Reeling out some of his strategies to positively positioning the Service since assuming office, Maiwada said collaboration, understanding strength and weakness, media relation and engagement, administrative efficiency, improving internal and external communication, implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), embracing digital PR and others played a pivotal role.
Maiwada’s Customs journey
His foray to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) dates back to 2011 when he enlisted as Cadet ASC and was commissioned in 2012.
He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education/Geography and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Bayero University Kano. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Mass-Communication from Crescent University Abeokuta. He is currently a Doctoral Researcher specializing in Internal Communication, Media Arts at the University of Abuja.
CSC Maiwada had a long stint as the Zonal Public Relations Officer Zone ‘B’ Headquarters, Public Relations Officer Ogun Command (now Ogun I & II Area Commands).
The Customs spokesman was deployed to Headquarters in 2020 as the pioneer Liaison Officer of Nigeria Customs Broadcasting Network and later deputized the immediate past National Public Relations Officer from January 2022 to February 2023. He was appointed substantive spokesperson of NCS in April 2023, a position he holds to date.
To fully embrace the service of Public Relations and its dynamics, Maiwada is a Member of the National Institute of Public Relations. He also holds full membership with the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN), the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), and the Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).
He has attended numerous courses relating to Customs Operations, Trade Facilitation, Public Relations, Strategic Communication, and Leadership.
As a consummate and seasoned Officer, he is a recipient of the 2020 World Customs Organisation (WCO) meritorious award. He recently bagged the Best Spokesperson of the Year award organized by Image Merchant Limited. Under his watch, the Public Relations Unit recently received the WCO Meritorious Award during the 2024 International Customs Day Celebration (ICD).
He has several published conceptual and empirical papers relating to Public Relations in Customs and other areas in the field of communication.
