CONMMEP Honours FOU Zone A Coordinator Gambo Aliyu For Excellence In Leadership, Trade Facilitation

_How Comptroller G.I. Aliyu Is Balancing Security and Trade in Nigeria’s Southwest_  

By Lod Onyeji

At the Congress of Nigerian Maritime Media Practitioners’ 2026 AGM in Ikeja, Lagos, one award cut through the usual ceremony. CONMMEP gave its _Leadership Excellence Award for Outstanding Enforcement and Trade Facilitation_ to Comptroller G.I. Aliyu, Coordinator of the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A.  

The reason was not rhetoric. It was results oriented because zone A covers Nigeria’s busiest land-border corridor: Idiroko, Seme, Imeko, Ilara, and Ilaro. It is also the country’s most porous route for fuel smuggling, rice diversion, and duty evasion. Under Aliyu, FOU Zone A has shifted from raids to data.

From Data based studies; the following are evidentiary of the Award winning Comptroller, 

1.  Revenue Protected: In a recent Operation Whirlwind action, the Unit seized and auctioned 20,500 litres of PMS and 5 vehicles with a combined Duty Paid Value of ₦38 million. Those are not one-off figures. CONMMEP cited a pattern of intelligence-led interceptions that have reduced leakages along the Southwest border by targeting high-volume diversion points. IMF research estimates that a 10% cut in fuel smuggling can lift formal retail GDP in border regions by 0.4% to 0.7%. For Nigeria, that translates to billions in reclaimed economic activity. 

2.  Markets Stabilized: NBS price data shows months with high interdiction correlated with 6% to 9% less volatility in PMS prices in Lagos and Ogun. Less smuggling means less artificial scarcity, which lowers transport costs for SMEs and households. 

3.  Trade Speed Up: By partnering with NMDPRA, ONSA, and other agencies, Aliyu’s team has separated enforcement from harassment. Compliant importers and exporters now face faster cargo clearance, while smugglers face vehicle forfeiture and public auction. As CONMMEP noted in its citation: “Trade facilitation is not the opposite of enforcement; it is the reward for effective enforcement.”

In recognition of the Leadership Model, CONMMEP President Udo Onyeka said the award recognizes professionalism, transparency, and intelligence-driven operations. Aliyu has kept the Unit’s door open to the media, a move CONMMEP calls essential for accountability in a sector that handles over 90% of Nigeria’s trade by volume.

The timing matters. With Nigeria implementing AfCFTA and expanding non-oil exports, a rules-based border is no longer optional. Revenue protection, investor confidence, and supply chain reliability all start at the checkpoint.

Receiving the award, Aliyu dedicated it to his CAC, officers and partner agencies, and recommitted FOU Zone A to intelligence-led operations.  

The takeaway for policymakers is empirical: when enforcement is precise and transparent, trade does not slow. It grows. In Nigeria’s Southwest corridor, that theory now has a name — and a set of numbers behind it.