The Kanwan Katsina District Head of Ketare, a retired Customs Area Controller and former ace Public Relations Officer of Tin Can Island Customs command, Alhaji Usman Bello Kankara mni, has been honoured with the Media Support Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to press freedom and his legacy of support for the media profession.
The honour was conferred on the Kanwan Katsina by the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) at its 70th Anniversary Gala/Award Night held on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at the popular Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
The Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, His Excellency Rt Hon Mohammed Jatau, presented the award to Kanwan Katsina on behalf of the NUJ 70th Anniversary Committee.
Receiving the prestigious award, Alhaji Usman Bello Kankara expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the NUJ for finding him worthy of the recognition. He also extended his gratitude to the Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, for his transformational leadership in the Service. “I thank the NUJ for this honour, which I dedicate to all Service officers who believe in the power of communication. I also commend the CGC for his good work and for sustaining the reforms we all hoped to see,” he stated.
Rtd Comptroller Bello served as the PRO of Tin Can Port Command for close to a decade and was regarded as the most friendly Customs PRO at the time, a professional demeanour he maintains till date even as a traditional ruler.
During his days as PRO in Tin Can Port with his office at the then Car Park C, he was a reporter’s delight with his friendly disposition and popular cliche of “Powerful Reporter” used in addressing every journalist that called at his office. His red pen must be used to address his sealed message (never opened) as he called the name of the journalist in addition with “Powerful Reporter”.
Alhaji UK Bello was the Area Controller of Katsina and FCT commands before his retirement. He is widely respected for fostering a culture of openness and professional engagement throughout his career.