NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE AND THE FIGHT AGAINST ECONOMIC TERRORISM

1.BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Since its independence in 1960, Nigeria has been trying to transform its status from a third world economy to a first world economy. This has resulted to successive governments launching and implementing different economic programmes to achieve this aim ranging from the First Economic Development Plan, Second Economic Development Plan, Third Economic Development Plan, Green Revolution, Structural Adjustment Programme, Vision 2010, National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, Vision 2020, Transformation Agenda and the present Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. However, despite these laudable programmes, Nigeria’s economic state has worsened, the masses become more impoverished by the day and Nigeria being rated as the world’s poverty headquarters. Thus, it seems that as more economic plans are reeled out by successive governments, the more the Nigeria’s economy take a plunge for the worse. 

This failure can be attributed to the enormous economic terrorism being wrought on the face of the nation. Such activities include smuggling, evasion of tax, evasion of payment of import and excise duties, under declaration, misinvoicing, money laundering, corruption, fraud, and importation of fake and substandard goods, illicit goods and other sundry nefarious economic activities.

The above activities have sabotaged in no small measure each successive governments in promoting the economic welfare of its citizens and have wreaked a huge havoc on the economic life of the nation. These activities have also stifled economic growth, deprived the much needed revenue from government to provide social services and undertake development projects especially for an economy that is vulnerable to external revenue shocks and most importantly undermine the local industry and whose undesirable outcome is the total collapse of industries accompanied by loss of jobs and high rate of unemployment.

It is in this quest to fight economic terrorism that the Nigeria Customs Service was established with its core mandate of suppression and prevention of smuggling and the collection of revenue: import and excise duties and accounting for same, and which are the two main claws that are tearing the nation’s economy apart.

This paper seeks to assess and examine the role of the Nigerian Customs Service in the fight against economic terrorism in Nigeria.