By Tunde Ojudun
On Monday, 23 March 2026, Comptroller-General of Customs and Chairperson of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Council, Adewale Adeniyi, etched his name into history as he delivered the keynote address at the opening of the 46th Session of the WCO Enforcement Committee in Brussels, Belgium.
For the first time in the Committee’s 43-year existence, its opening session was jointly addressed by both the WCO Secretary-General, Ian Saunders, and the Council Chairperson. This landmark moment underscored the Committee’s rising strategic importance and placed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the forefront of global Customs cooperation.
The session signaled a major transformation in the Committee’s role—shifting from a purely enforcement-driven platform to a policy-oriented body tackling modern challenges such as detection technologies, intelligence sharing, supply chain integrity, and trade-based money laundering. The ongoing review of its Terms of Reference, last updated in 2009, reflects efforts to align governance with today’s complex trade realities.
In his keynote, Adeniyi praised Customs administrations resilience in combating transnational organised crime. He stressed the evolving nature of threats within global supply chains and the need for intelligence-led, coordinated enforcement. “Customs enforcement today is no longer about isolated seizures, it is about protecting the integrity of global trade,” he declared.
The NCS is expected to contribute field-level insights on fragile border management, drawing from Nigeria’s demanding border environment. These perspectives will enrich global dialogue and strengthen policy frameworks within the enforcement community.
Adeniyi closed with a call for deeper collaboration: “When Customs administrations work together, enforcement becomes stronger, trade becomes safer, and the global economy becomes more resilient.”
On the sidelines, delegates witnessed a live demonstration of drone technology by Netherlands Customs, showcasing the growing role of unmanned systems in modern border surveillance.