Acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, yesterday, expressed the agency’s readiness to give back to the society by assisting orphanage homes and other organisations in the country.

Adeniyi, who revealed the service’s commitment to social responsibility and its desire to contribute towards the betterment of Nigerian society, said the move became imperative to extend hands of fellowship to organisations catering for vulnerable groups in the country.

The Comptroller General stated this while on an assessment tour of facilities at Dorian Home, which is along Idanre Road, Akure, Ondo State capital, and owned by Dr. Lola Bayode.

According to him, the inspection became necessary so that the service could assist the facility in taking care of the children.

He said: “We are an agency of the government and our mandate is basically to work around and generate revenue for the country. We do not generate this revenue in a ghost city; we operate within society, communities, and border areas within state commands.

“When we do this, we also feel that we have a responsibility to the community that helps us generate that kind of revenue, and we want to remain a very committed and patriotic agency of government.

“This is why we find it necessary to seek out organisations like this and forge partnerships with them. In doing so, we also learn from past experiences.

“In the past, when we tried to extend hands of fellowship to places like this, we either had situations where some of those things might be diverted and end up in the wrong hands, or some of them might also end up in the markets and be sold. So, this time in our review strategy, we want to identify these organizations; we want to be sure they have the proper structure to drive what they are doing; and also want to see passion and their commitment towards it.

“My assessment visit has shown that all those three elements are present in Dorian Homes, and in all such other organizations where we see those elements present, we would be extending our hands of assistance and partnership with them.”
On his part, the General Manager of Dorian Home, NiyiOgunleye, who represented the founder, said the home does not only focus on sheltering, feeding and clothing the children, it also takes care of their education to achieve their dreams despite challenges.

He noted that the home has been focusing on its mission statement of “providing decent shelter and catering for the welfare of the vulnerable, including children, widows, the elderly, youths, and those ravaged by wars and communal clashes.”