The choice of who becomes the next Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) is generating a controversy in the agency.

Our correspondent in an exclusive chat with the former Public Relations Officer of ANLCA and Chairman South-South Maritime Forum, Seme Border, Comrade Emmanuel Okwoche in his office with the question “where do we expect the post of the Comptroller General of customs to shift to after the expiration of the term of the incumbent Dr. Inde Dikko?”, He did not mince words by saying that no section of the country should hold on too long on a juicy appointment like the CGC.

His words, “No section of the federation should hold on to any national office for too long, unless qualified persons from other zones are not available”.

Okwoche said, as an agenda setter, the President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari should be seen now to be running a civilian government and not a military administration.

The president, he said would ensure that appointments were based on merit and should also move round the zones of the country.

The maritime guru frowned at sit-tight syndrome by public office holders pointing out that such leaders were often mis-guided into believing that it was their birth right to hold juicy civil service appointments.

He expressed the fear that such erroneous opinion of public office holders was an ill wind that blew no one any good.

Comrade Okwoche blamed corruption in high places on birth right syndrome; adding that most public office holders do not see themselves as servant or holding such positions for trust on their own merit.

“That is why many high caliber civil servants are corrupt. Once the head is rotten, the whole body will be bad,” he insists.

Okwoche noted that recruitment into high ranking civil service positions should be the responsibility of a federally balanced civil service commission.

He noted that only such a commission could ensure that public offices move round as should be the case in a democratically elected government, which we claimed to be in existence now.

“It is very important that civil servants move rounds, whether lucrative or not”, he said.

Okwoche carpet the federal government and operators of the maritime sector, said they lack ideas and initiatives that could move the industry forward.

The maritime guru, ranked the maritime sector of the economy next to the crude oil in terms of revenue generation especially foreign exchange earning capability, if only government and operators of the sector could rise on the challenges before them.