The Acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, has led officers and men of the Service, including Members of the Management Team, Representatives of Military and Paramilitary Institutions, to the marathon route march — as part of his move to keep his men in a state of sound physical and mental fitness.
The trekking exercise, which had a theme “Work-Life Balance: Balancing For A Better Tomorrow”, commenced in the early hours of Saturday, 23 September 2023, from Customs Headquarters Wuse Zone 3 to the newly built Customs House in Maitama Area, all in Abuja — the Federal Capital Territory.
This is seen as one of the Ag. CGC’s strategic approach to enhance the agility of the officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service.
Speaking after the route march, the Ag. CGC posited that the exercise is aimed at keeping officers physically and mentally fit to enable them face their constitutional duties effectively, emphasizing that “we have gathered here to launch a transformative initiative that reflects the core values of our beloved Service — the Work-Life Balance Initiative.”
He said that the physical exercise, however, attests to the Customs’ commitment to consolidate key areas of national development, knotting ties with stakeholders and embracing technological innovations.
“As officers and men, we come under lots of pressure to fulfil various obligations, and most of the time, these pressures come from our workplaces — emanating from the nature of our tasks, which are usually physically and mentally demanding; thus, the exercise will help reduce such pressure for us and enhance our productivity at work,” he said.
According to him, the Nigeria Customs Service had, over the past 15 years, established 32 clinics and medical centres all over the country to take care of the officers’ health, adding that “as we embark on this journey, it is vital to understand the essence of this initiative and why we need to flag it off.”
He motivated them to continue to engage themselves in extra exercises such as jogging, mountain hiking, dancing and all other curricular activities while also urging them to embrace the work-life balance as it will continue to improve their health and also contribute to enhancing the efficiency of the Service.
The Customs Chief also mentioned that the exercise will facilitate the unity and love between Customs officers across the federation, saying that “participating in this brisk walking exercise fosters friendship and unity and sense of shared purpose amongst us.”
The brisk walking exercise was attended by Deputy Comptroller-Generals of Customs in charge of different Units, Assistant Comptroller-Generals, and all Comptrollers down to Assistant of Customs III. Other participants who graced the ‘Walk-Life Balance’ exercise were from the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Nigerian Correctional Center, Immigration Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, and Nigeria Army.