Customs Benchmarks CRS Projects Against School’s Academic Performance

James Emejo in Abuja

The Comptroller -General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has declared that going forward, the service’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) interventions at at Government Secondary School (GSS) Wuse, Abuja will be based on its academic progress.

He spoke at an event to mark one- year anniverssary of the Customs CARES initiatiative, held at the school’s premises.

Through the NCS CSR named: “Customs Cares,” the service on March 20, 2025, renovated the school hall, installed streetlights and Close Circuit Cameras (CCTV) to improve security in the school.

 The School Principal, Mrs. Josephine Ugwu, while appreciating the service’s gesture, requested for further assistance to furnish the school with chairs and tables that befit the beautifully renovated hall.

However, responding to the request, Adeniyi said the essence of the intervention in the school was to encourage academic performance, adding that he expected to witness improvement in academic performance.

The CGC urged the school to raise a  sub committee to set the Key Performance Index or targets in English, Mathematics and Sciences in the school.

The target, according to him, will be used to review the school’s 2025 and 2026 West African School Certificate (WASC) results to determine their merit for more assistance.

Adeniyi said, “There is a small condition that is attached to this. This facility is put in place to encourage academic performance and I want to begin to see results. We want to start seeing that result that encourages us.

“So, what I will charge the school, the principal and the teachers is that we want to see demonstration of improvement in your next WASC results.

“We will have to see the results of 2025 WAEC, and then 2026 results.

“We will sit down and we will look at it, we will see what was missing before that we did not have. By what percentage can we improve performance in English, in Mathematics, in the Sciences.

“We will have a sub committee that will sit down with you and and then we set a very soft target. We might say improve this performance by 5 per cent .”

Adeniyi commended the students on their basketball skills and dancing performances.

He admonished the students to work hard in the academics in order to be able to also hold positions of responsibility from which they can also intervene in other places in future.

Meanwhile, a student, Marcus Bimbo, who spoke on behalf of the school said the the renovated hall was a model of hope, patience and expectation before the NCS intervention.

She however stressed that the dream came to fruition as the intervention exceeded their expectations.

Highlights of the ceremony was the One – Year Anniversary of the Customs Cares and the official commissioning of a project at the school.

 It also included tree planting in the school and a basket ball match between NSC and the school.

With 46 goals, the school triumphed over the NCS that scored 31 goals.