The Controller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has commissioned a modern four-classroom educational complex at the Kirikiri Medium Security Custodial Centre in Lagos, in a move that underscores the Nigeria Customs Service’s (NCS) deepening commitment to corporate social responsibility and inmate rehabilitation.
The facility, delivered by the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) Command under its Customs Care initiative, features four fully furnished and air-conditioned classrooms, a standard library, a well-equipped ICT centre, and a borehole to improve water supply within the custodial centre.
Speaking during the commissioning ceremony, CGC Adeniyi described the intervention as a strategic rethinking of how institutions approach security and corrections, emphasising that sustainable national security must include human capital development.
“This project represents more than infrastructure; it represents ‘belief’ belief in rehabilitation and the transformative power of education,” Adeniyi said.
“True security goes beyond enforcement. It requires deliberate investment in people and in institutions that reform, rebuild, and reintegrate individuals into society.”
He maintained that education remains one of the most effective correctional tools, noting that inmates equipped with knowledge and skills are significantly less likely to reoffend and more likely to become productive members of society upon release.
The Controller of Corrections, Lagos State Command, Daramola George, described the initiative as historic and transformative, stressing that structured educational programmes within custodial centres are central to successful reintegration and long-term behavioural reform.George also acknowledged the role of Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Joy Edeldouk, whose tenure as Area Controller of the KLT Command initiated the project.
Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), KLT Chapter, Ahmed Olajide, lauded the CGC’s compassionate leadership and commitment to social impact. Delivering a goodwill message on behalf of the association, he welcomed CGC Adeniyi, ACG Edeldouk, and the current Customs Area Controller of KLT Command, Comptroller B.A. Adigun.
Olajide commended the Nigeria Customs Service for demonstrating that leadership extends beyond statutory mandates to meaningful societal intervention, describing the project as a “profound gesture of humanity” that will leave a lasting legacy of hope and opportunity for inmates.
The commissioning further reinforces the NCS’s growing role in community development, institutional reform, and the promotion of sustainable reintegration through targeted corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Leave a Reply