{"id":355337,"date":"2026-05-18T03:06:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T02:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=355337"},"modified":"2026-05-17T20:25:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T19:25:01","slug":"customs-harps-on-human-led-ai-governance-as-customs-digital-reforms-generate-n230bn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=355337","title":{"rendered":"Customs Harps On Human-led AI Governance –As Customs Digital Reforms Generate N230Bn"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, has called for a human-centred approach to digital transformation, warning that the success of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies will ultimately depend on ethics, leadership, and institutional accountability.<\/div>\n
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Adeniyi made the remarks while delivering the keynote address at the 4th Biennial International Conference organised by the Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences of University of Ilorin in collaboration with the Faculty of Philology, RUDN University.<\/div>\n
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The conference, themed \u201cDisruptive Technology: Human and Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Economy,\u201d brought together communication scholars, technology experts, researchers, policymakers, and heads of government agencies to examine the growing influence of artificial intelligence, digital innovation, and emerging technologies on governance, trade, education, and economic development.<\/div>\n
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Addressing participants at the University of Ilorin Main Auditorium last week , meAdeniyi argued that while artificial intelligence is reshaping institutions and economies globally, technology must remain accountable to society and aligned with public interest objectives.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe digital age is, in the end, a human story, and the real test of our generation is not how powerful our machines become, but how wisely our societies choose to use them,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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He noted that the world had already moved beyond the stage of anticipating disruption, stressing that digital payments, e-commerce platforms, artificial intelligence systems, and smart technologies had fundamentally altered global economic and governance structures.<\/div>\n
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According to him, the responsibility of public institutions is not merely to adopt new technologies, but to ensure that innovation strengthens transparency, efficiency, and public trust rather than weakening accountability mechanisms.<\/div>\n
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Drawing from the ongoing modernisation reforms within the Nigeria Customs Service, Adeniyi highlighted the deployment of the B\u2019Odogwu Unified Customs Management System as a major milestone in the Service\u2019s digital transformation agenda.<\/div>\n
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He disclosed that the platform generated more than ?230 billion at the PTML Command within its first eight months of deployment, while significantly improving cargo processing timelines and inter-agency coordination.<\/div>\n
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According to the Customs boss, compliant traders now complete cargo clearance procedures in less than eight hours under the digital platform, representing a major improvement in trade facilitation efficiency.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe partnership, not the rivalry, between human and artificial intelligence is where the real value lies,\u201d Adeniyi stated.<\/div>\n
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He maintained that while artificial intelligence can enhance operational efficiency, risk management, and data-driven decision-making, human expertise and institutional leadership remain indispensable in governance and enforcement operations.<\/div>\n
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\u201cTechnology changes processes; leadership and expertise still deliver the results,\u201d he added.<\/div>\n
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The CGC further advocated deeper collaboration between universities, research institutions, and government agencies to develop practical, locally relevant solutions to emerging governance and digital economy challenges.<\/div>\n
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He urged academic institutions to move beyond theoretical scholarship and become active contributors to innovation, policy development, and institutional reform.<\/div>\n
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Adeniyi identified several areas where academia could support Customs modernisation efforts, including artificial intelligence-driven risk targeting systems, digital compliance mechanisms, governance of cross-border data flows, and public trust communication strategies.<\/div>\n
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He also challenged African governments to develop indigenous digital governance frameworks that reflect the continent\u2019s legal systems, economic realities, and development priorities rather than relying solely on imported regulatory models.<\/div>\n
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The conference also provided a platform for high-level engagements between the Customs leadership, scholars, traditional rulers, communication professionals, and heads of government agencies on opportunities for collaboration in digital research, innovation, community development and capacity.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos<\/div>\n
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The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, has called for a human-centred approach to digital transformation, warning that the success of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies will ultimately depend on ethics, leadership, and institutional accountability. Adeniyi made the remarks while delivering the keynote address at the 4th Biennial International Conference organised by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67315,"featured_media":355366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-355337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/67315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355391,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355337\/revisions\/355391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/355366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}