Gambo Aliyu’s Legacy: When Intelligence Over Raids Made the Watchdogs Applaud
_How intelligence, access, and integrity reshaped anti-smuggling operations in Lagos_ By Lod Onyeji LAGOS — On a Wednesday morning in Lagos, the usual dynamic was reversed. The journalists came not to ask questions, but to give thanks. Members of the Network of Nigerian Maritime Journalists [NNMJ] gathered at the Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service to honor its outgoing Controller, Comptroller Gambo Aliyu. It was a farewell, but also a case study in what happens when enforcement and the press stop treating each other as adversaries. For nine months, Aliyu led FOU Zone ‘A’ — the Customs command with responsibility for the country’s busiest corridor of imports, smuggling routes, and border infractions. By the numbers, the results were stark. The Unit generated and recovered more than ₦2 billion for the Federation Account in that period. According to Aliyu, that figure is roughly five times the command’s annual revenue target. ...
