The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), retired Col. Hameed Ali, has urged officers and men of NCS to eschew greed and illegal acquisition of wealth.

He gave the advice on Wednesday when he addressed officers and men of NCS at a lecture organised at the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, FCT.

Ali said that officers and men of the service must jettison the idea of acquiring wealth through the service, adding that they should rather work to improve the system for the betterment of the country.

He noted that it was unfortunate that some persons joined the NCS to enrich themselves by acquiring properties and expensive cars, to the detriment of the country.

He enjoined the customs personnel to be committed, while discharging their duties.

“If I raise salary of the staff, after six months, they will get stabilised and be asking for more; you should rather have internal motivation because that is what will keep you going,’’ he said.

The comptroller-general said that every leader must strive to take right decisions and be firm about them.

According to him, anyone who wants to be nice in carrying out his or her duties in the Customs will never achieve anything.

“When I assumed duty as Comptroller-General, there were some fears and some people were angry at my appointment.

“There were pressures and after one year, they discovered the old man is still there. Then, after three years, I am still around and it is now time for them to accept that I have come to stay to carry out certain reforms in the service.

“I am here to achieve certain basic standards, which I will be proud of at the end of my tenure.

“If you all make use of this change, the Nigeria Customs Service will be one of the best customs agencies in the world,” he said.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture — “The Leadership Questions and Modernisation in Customs Management’’ — was delivered by Mr Kateshumbwa Dicksons, Commissioner for Customs, Uganda Revenue Authority. (NAN)