The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has once again earned international acclaim, clinching the Golden World Award (GWA) for Impactful Public Relations in Customs Management at the 2025 IPRA Gala held on October 3 at the Mövenpick Hotel, Accra, Ghana.
The award, presented by IPRA President Nataša Pavlović Bujas, celebrates NCS’s strategic communication excellence. The winning entry—authored by Image Merchants Promotion Limited—documents the visionary PR reforms led by Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, and has become a benchmark for public relations scholarship in Nigeria.
Philip Sheppard, IPRA Secretary-General, praised the publication for offering actionable strategies and showcasing real-world PR leadership rooted in NCS’s transformation journey.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Service, Assistant Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, NCS’s National PRO, expressed gratitude, noting that the honour reinforces the Service’s commitment to transparency, professionalism, and stakeholder engagement.
“This award is a validation of the Nigeria Customs Service’s commitment to professionalism, transparency, and stakeholder engagement,” Maiwada said. “Under the leadership of the Comptroller-General, we have repositioned communication as a strategic tool for reform trust-building.”
It will be recalled that the Service was earlier honoured in 2024 with the prestigious GWA for Crisis Communication at the IPRA Gala in Belgrade, Serbia. This year’s award builds on that feat, highlighting NCS’s consistent innovation in communication and reputation management.
The award ceremony formed part of the Public Relations Knowledge Sharing Conference held from Wednesday, 1st to Friday, 3rd October 2025, at the Accra International Conference Centre. The conference, themed “Global Realities and Innovative Communication,” was attended by leading communication experts, including Dr Ike Neliaku, President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR); Nataša Pavlović Bujas, President of IPRA; Arik Karani, President of the African Public Relations Association (APRA); and Esther Amba Numaba Cobbah, President of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Ghana, among other PR professionals across Africa.
At the closing session of the conference earlier on Friday, the President of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, urged public relations professionals to uphold the highest standards of ethics and competence in their practice.
“As communicators, you hold the power to shape narratives and influence public trust,” President Mahama said. “Our continent needs professionals who communicate with integrity, clarity, and purpose to support national development.”
Also speaking at the Gala night, Ghana’s Vice President, H.E. Jane Nana, congratulated all the awardees, commending their contributions to advancing strategic communication globally.
To crown the night, Esther Amba Numaba Cobbah, President of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Ghana, assumed the mantle as the new President of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), succeeding Nataša Pavlović Bujas. Her emergence as the first African to lead the 70-year-old global body marks a historic milestone and a moment of pride for the continent’s communication professionals.