Elegbede Abiodun
The Nigeria Customs Service has turned to the ancient authority of traditional rulers in Oyo and Osun states to help win the battle against smuggling and shore up the country’s battered revenue base.
Deputy Comptroller of Customs Wale Adewole, who serves as Acting Customs Area Controller for the Oyo/Osun Area Command, made the rounds this week, calling on three of the region’s most prominent monarchs — the Ooni of Ife, the Ogunsua of Modakeke, and the Ataoja of Osogbo. The visits were more than ceremonial. Officials are betting that the moral weight these rulers carry within their communities can translate into better intelligence, greater compliance with trade laws, and a chill on the informal smuggling networks that have long undermined Nigeria’s customs revenue.
At the palace of the Ooni — which he described as a monument to Yoruba civilisation — Adewole made a direct appeal for royal backing in curbing illicit trade and protecting legitimate commerce. The message was the same at each stop: Customs cannot do this alone.
The monarchs, for their part, appeared receptive. The Ooni praised the agency’s work in trade facilitation and border security and pledged continued support. The Ogunsua of Modakeke spoke about the centrality of peace and stability in his domain and promised his people’s cooperation. The Ataoja of Osogbo echoed those sentiments, commending Customs for its role in defending the national economy.
The outreach reflects a broader strategic calculation. Southwest Nigeria sits astride busy commercial corridors and informal cross-border trade routes where smuggled goods — from rice and textiles to petroleum products — regularly slip through. Formal enforcement alone has proven insufficient. By embedding Customs within the social fabric through relationships with traditional leaders, the agency hopes to gain the kind of ground-level intelligence that checkpoints and patrols cannot easily generate.
For ordinary traders, the consequences could cut both ways. Closer community ties might ease legitimate business, but heightened enforcement attention could also squeeze the grey markets that many small operators depend on.
The Oyo/Osun Area Command says these palace visits are only the opening moves in a longer campaign. More stakeholder engagements are planned in the months ahead, with the Customs Service framing sustained community collaboration as essential to its twin mandates of revenue collection and economic security.
