…Recounts encounters with the late Customs chief<\/p>\n
Comptroller Dera Nnadi mni, the Area Controller of the Seme Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, has expressed a deep sense of loss mixed with grief over the death of DCG Umar Sanusi (rtd).
\nThe retired Customs officer died in the early hours of Sunday 26th, March 2023, at a private hospital in Abuja and was buried according to Islamic rites the same day after Muslim prayer in the Abuja Central Mosque.
\nIn an emotion-laden tribute to the late Customs chief, Compt. Nnadi grieved the death of Sanusi whom he said he admired and revered as a Customs officer.
\nRecounting his various encounters with the deceased, Nnadi disclosed that the late Sanusi came across to him as a fine, diligent, compassionate, thorough, and core professional officer who was humane, humble, and highly detribalized, the attributes which Comptroller Nnadi said had a deep impression on him.
\n\u201cIt is with a heavy heart that I received the news of the death of DCG Rtd Umar Sanusi. A gentleman officer and an erudite Nigerian.
\n\u201cMy first encounter with the senior officer was in 2003 or so at the CGC conference in Calabar Cross River State, where, as an Assistant Comptroller of Customs, he presented a report as the APM Apapa Command.
\n\u201cIt was not common then to present papers and reports in PowerPoint, but he did. This was not the only remarkable thing he did at the conference.
\n\u201cThe then AC Sanusi was detailed in his report, which was a departure from what others presented.
\n\u201cHe was factual and honest and admitted it where things were wrong in NCS operations at Apapa Command and highlighted them in writing during his presentation.
\n\u201cThis was shocking to the entire audience as it was rare then for officers to admit that their acts while discharging their duties, were not optimal.
\n\u201cSome attempt by the moderator to stop him was rebuffed by a lone voice.
\n\u201cOne man and indeed the Boss was that voice. The then CGC now Gbon Gwom Jos Da Elder Jacob Gyang Buba overruled everybody and urged him to continue and to even say more if he has facts.
\n\u201cHe gave him more time than the allotted 30 minutes. There was a pin-drop silence.
\n\u201cAC Sanusi earned a place in the Service after that encounter. He also earned my admiration as a young Deputy Superintendent of Customs.
\n\u201cOur path was to cross again when I was posted to Apapa prior to the commencement of the second phase of the NCS and NPA port reforms, which coincided in 2006.
\n\u201d AC Sanusi was the APM and I was the PRO of the Command.
\n\u201cThe NCS reforms included migration from basic ASYCUDA to ASYCUDA 2.0, the use of the precursor to PAAR called Risk Assessment Report RAR, the introduction of e- Payment regime and the introduction of Non-Intrusive Cargo examination- Scanners all with Apapa Port as the pilot Command.
\n\u201cOn the other hand and going on simultaneously was the port concession which saw NPA handing over to private sector owners of the port facilities.
\n\u201cThe challenges then were enormous, but we survived all through DCG Sanusi\u2019s diligence with the then Comptroller Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo.
\n\u201cIt was a milestone for me and indeed for the senior officer then AC Sanusi. I learnt a lot from him.
\n\u201cYet another remarkable encounter with DCG Sanusi was at the NCS Headquarters when he was appointed ACG Headquarters.
\n\u201cI had gone to greet him and pay homage when he did the \u201cunthinkable\u201d at least in my little understanding of life then.
\n\u201cAfter taking my compliments, he offered me a seat and of course, I refused to seat in his presence as an Assistant Comptroller out of courtesy.
\n\u201cHe said \u2018Nnadi, I have observed that we are not close anymore and I think this is an opportunity for me to address it\u2019. I was shocked and said it wasn\u2019t so.
\n\u201cWhat he said next shocked me. He said \u201d I know I offended you but I want to use this opportunity to apologise and request that you work closely with me. As ACG HQ, I will need you around me since you are in SR&P\u201d.
\n\u201cI responded that I did not know that he offended me being his junior who respect and admire him. He said I should never mind.
\n\u201cHe offered me a gift, stepped out, shook my hands and gave me a hug.
\n\u201cI left his office confused, overwhelmed with emotions and thereafter held in greater esteem and awe. His loss is a personal one to me.
\n\u201cFarewell DCG Umar Sanusi. NCS and indeed Nigeria lost a gem,\u201d Nnadi sobbed.
\nThe deceased, Sanusi, who retired in 2019 as DCG, Human Resources Department, died after a brief illness in the early hours of Sunday, 26th March 2023.
\nSanusi was earlier appointed Assistant Comptroller General Customs (ACG), Headquarters by Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), in 2015 before he was promoted to DCG in 2018.
\nAnnouncing his death, the Public Relations Officer, PTML command of the Service, SC Yakubu Muhammed said
\n\u201cWith heavy heart, I notify us of the demise of DCG AU Sanusi(Rtd).
\n\u201cHe passed on about an hour ago at a private hospital in Abuja. The Janaza prayers hold after the Zuhr prayers (1 pm) at the National Mosque, Abuja In Shaa Allah,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
…Recounts encounters with the late Customs chief Comptroller Dera Nnadi mni, the Area Controller of the Seme Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, has expressed a deep sense of loss mixed with grief over the death of DCG Umar Sanusi (rtd). The retired Customs officer died in the early hours of Sunday 26th, March 2023, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":621,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions\/621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}