Adewale Adeniyi, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, has set the groundwork for the N500 million erection of a state-of-the-art 30-bed hospital at Zone D Headquarters in Bauchi. The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative is funding the state-of-the-art medical facility at the Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘D’ Headquarters, Bauchi, through its Security Sector Support Grant.
The groundbreaking took place on Monday and comes after Dr. Ubon Udoh, MD/CEO of ASR Africa, presented letters of award to Nigeria’s security authorities in December 2022.
The chairman of ASR Africa was commended by the NCS Comptroller General for the grant that was given to the agency. The gesture is noteworthy since it is the first time that a large donation of this kind has been made to the Nigeria Customs Service by any organization.
“We are indeed happy to be a proud recipient of this project, which we hope will enhance the capacity and welfare of our personnel and those of our communities where we serve.
“The mandate of the Nigeria Customs Service is very clear. We are dispersed all over the country to discharge those key mandates: generating revenue for the country, controlling and managing smuggling, and facilitating trade. These are onerous responsibilities to be discharged by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service.
“For the effective delivery of these mandates, we have to look after the welfare of our officers, we have to be concerned about the health of their families, and we also have to look after the wealth and the health of members of the community where we operate.
“This is why the Nigeria Customs Service has put in place a robust welfare program to take care of the health and the needs of our officers. Under the current budget, the Nigeria Customs Service must put up several medical facilities in all our Zonal Headquarters.
“So, we have a project that is ongoing, Zone A in Lagos, we have one in Kaduna, we have one in Port Harcourt and we are happy that we have found a reputable partner that has chosen to work with us to deliver a world-class 30-bed hospital we have in Zone D, Bauchi,” he stated.
The MD of ASR Africa, Udoh, reaffirmed in his remarks at the groundbreaking that Abdul Samad Rabiu, the Chairman of ASR Africa and the BUA Group, is committed to keeping his word to the security agencies throughout Nigeria.
He went on to say that ASR Africa has communicated with each and every recipient of the security grant and is on schedule to guarantee the execution of every project chosen by the security services and armed forces. He expressed his gratitude to the Nigerian Customs Service leadership for their collaboration with ASR Africa on this project.
This project is also a reflection of the kind of leadership that the Customs are fortunate to have. This project could have been anything, but the leadership decided to build a hospital putting the health of the men, women, officers, and families in the Nigeria Customs Service first,” he stated.
Recall that in December 2022, during his visit to the former President of Nigeria, ASR Africa Chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu pledged a N10 billion donation to the country’s security services and armed forces.
This award, which is a component of the Security Sector Support grant, is intended to help the military forces and national security agencies carry out their mandate from the Nigerian people in an effective and efficient manner.
The Nigerian Immigration Service, Department of Secret Services, Nigeria Police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, and the Nigerian Correctional Service are among the other beneficiaries.
