Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC), Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada, the current Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) cut his teeth in public relations career as a prodigy after assuming the position of PRO in the Service in different capacities.
Following his sterling performances in the PR and communication units, the formidable and innovative team he built when he came on board in 2023, as well as his penchant to follow the footsteps of his predecessors who left their bold footprints in the sand of time, Maiwada has continued to set enviable legacies in the Nigeria Customs Service communications and public relations engagements.
In this interview with D’GalleryTv, the communications expert speaks glowingly about his career odyssey and the secrets of the spate of successes in the Service PRO Unit.
You are coming from the background of the Service’s Public Relations Officers (PRO) gurus and managers in the class of Alhaji Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the current Comptroller General of Customs (CGS), Timi Bomodi and others. How have you been living up to expectations in breaking their records since you stepped into their big shoes as the current PRO?
I want to be very modest in every success story I have achieved so far. But I don’t want to use the personal pronoun ‘I’ because I have this feeling that a tree cannot form a forest. I also believe that the spate of the successes is a product of teamwork.
I am not yet a guru. I’m a student. I’m a learner and I’m open to learning day in day out. I’ve reiterated this philosophy in one of the PR conferences we had some months back. I’ve said it severally that I’m one of the privileged PROs in this country. I say this because I have served under three PROs, especially the present Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
I was a PRO in Kaduna when he was the spokesperson of Customs. He is a very good mentor because he would give you the opportunity to learn and grow. I’ve also served under Comptroller Attah who is now retired. I also served under Timi Bomodi as his deputy. I am so glad that I tapped a lot of knowledge in communications and public relations from all of them. That is what is manifesting in the success story we are recording as a team in the PR Unit today.
What remarkable feats have you been able to perform through your PR skills and professionalism?
What we did first of all when I came on board was to consolidate on the previous gains. Apart from consolidation, we also followed the footsteps of the predecessors to also innovate. So when we came in, we tried to revive the social media aspect of our communications. The basic reason is that we have our target audience and we have to send high standard contents to them.
I came to the Customs Headquarters in Abuja in 2020 as a Liaison Officer, Customs Broadcasting Network. That was a huge stride because I learnt a lot in broadcasting from the beginning to the end. It was also another avenue which we consolidated on in achieving our communication goals.
Secondly, we formed a formidable team. If you look at my office, we have a team of young officers that are innovative and creative in what they are doing. We are also giving them mentorship. Interestingly, we can see a lot of new innovations in terms of what we are doing. We are doing a lot in terms of stakeholders engagement.
The PR Unit has been actively promoting a transparent image of the NCS, with you as the PRO with a midas touch. How do you go about this and what is your assessment of this stride?
We are doing a lot in terms of media relations. We have a lot of programmes that we liverage to educate people, gentlemen of the press and members of the community using radio, television and indigenous languages.
We are also doing a lot of things in terms of new trend of data analytics, using data to make informed decision in public relations. In every data we generate, we create a content, analyse the data and make informed decisions. We have live chats, internet calls and normal calls. We also have dedicated and trained officers to manage complaints from the public.
As an organization, it is either you’re in a crisis or coming out of a crisis or you are going to be deep in another crisis. So, we have a crisis communication team which is doing very well. Whenever we see any signal from crises indicator we look at it and manage it before it happens. If it’s something that escalates we look for ways to manage it. We also have post-crisis discussions to ensure total end of crisis.
In terms of publication, we have resuscitated our monthly quasi magazine. We have produced the 21st edition which means that every month, there must be a monthly publication that summarizes our activities at NCS. In terms of internal communications, we are also doing a lot to make sure our communication is effective internally.
I can not assess myself. As I said earlier, it is a team work. But I must say that we are doing very well. However, I feel we can do better than what we are doing because there is always room for improvement. So, we don’t want to sit on our comfort seats and relax and feel that we are doing very well. We believe that we can improve day in day out.
How do you pursue excellence to be able to leave your footprints in the sand of time in your professional career?
There are three things I think can be used to pursue excellence. First, is commitment and dedication. If I set a goal for myself, I use all possible means within the confines of legitimacy to achieve that goal. It’s not easy to be where you are because getting a position that ought to be occupied by elders at the age of 36, is something very difficult because I’m just 37. So it’s a challenge for you to live up to that expectation.
Secondly, it is by forming a team that would think together, a team that would align with themselves to do their jobs because you can’t do it alone. As the head, you try to make them see from the prism you are seeing things. You try to make them align with your vision. So with that, you’d be able to achieve a lot in terms of whatever goals you’ve set for yourself. So, I’m very determined. Also, I try to avoid distractions. I treat public service like a private office. I mange this office as if it’s mine and as if it’s my investment. So with that, you’d see the best from what I’m doing. That’s what I believe in.
Lastly, it’s by being faithful. Whatever you do, whatever you want to achieve or you have achieved, if you are left with your own thinking alone, you won’t achieve much without divine intervention. I believe that there is always need to seek divine intervention. It’s by praying to God, asking God to support and guide you in whatever decisions you are about to make. That’s the ultimate way of success. But in the course of pursuing success, there would be turbulence. In such a situation, try to be like an aircraft and try to navigate through all those turbulences to reach your destination.
You are a prolific writer. What are your major preoccupations and how do you make your writings accessible to readers and what results do you derive from the writings?
I must say that my writing prowess has subsided. Before I became the spokesperson of Customs, if I experienced any event I would write an article on it. But today, I find it very difficult to write outside my field, especially press release, press statements and news, creative writings and so on. So these are the contents that have preoccupied my mind.
To what extent are you developing yourself in the area of academics to continue cutting an edge for yourself for more promotion?
In terms of academics, I’m not doing badly. I have a Research Gate account. That’s more of academic writing. I have a lot of papers that are published and unpublished sometimes in PR, relating to Customs in other aspects of communications and PR.
These are the areas I think I dwell on. On Research Gate, if you search my name you are going to see some of my contents. Some are published papers. Secondly, as you are moving higher, you try to narrow your area of expertise in knowledge. So, I am currently trying to be a specialist. I’m still a student of Internal Communication that is, IC. it’s a subset of Public Relations that deals with internal publics. That’s where I’m pursuing my PhD. That’s my area of specialization for now. But in other areas of PR, I’m still learning. I hope I will become a scholar in that field when I embark on that degree.
What lesson would you like your subordinates and upcoming professionals like you to learn from you?
I think the lessons they should learn form me is that, you can achieve anything or your goal at a very young age if you set a goal for yourself. I have a practical example: I planned to get married immediately after coming into Customs Service and I set that goal for myself. I got married less than a year after joining the Customs Service at the age of 25. So set your goals first thing, then also listen to elders, because there are things they’ve seen and experienced but you with your youthful exuberance would not be able to see.
When you listen and get mentorship, you’d achieve the best of the best. Finally, they should be committed to and hardworking in what they are doing and also be of exemplary character. No matter how good you are, how dedicated you are, how technically sound you are, if you don’t follow it with good attitude, I think you are bound to crash at an early stage.
What challenges do you face in your career and how do you overcome them?
There are a lot of challenges. But for me, challenges are more of a motivation. In the course of your relationship or work, you might have reasons to knowingly or unknowingly step into some footsteps that you might not be deliberate about. So, the best thing is to take challenges as a catalyst for success. There’s no endeavour or mission that has no challenges. But it should be an avenue for you to move forward, re-navigate until you find yourself in your promised land.
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