The Comptroller General of Customs, CGC Col. Hameed Ali was yesterday honoured with a Fellow’s award by the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) for CGC Ali’s immense contribution to the promotion of Public Relations as a revered professional arm of the Service.
Dr Rotimi Oladele, the NIPR National President of the institute who announced the award and subsequently decorated the CGC Ali at a top notch Customs Regional Training College, Gwagwalada, Abuja built by former CGC Dikko Inde Abdullahi, described Col. Hameed Ali as a meticulous man who would neither condone time wasting nor tolerate shenanigans.
Dr. Oladele identified the Customs Service as one of the paramilitary organizations that has fully embraced the valued ethics of Public Relations as a problem solver, and noted that Ali has personally championed the profession to such an extent that every officer functioning in the Public Relations department was expected to belong to the NIPR.
“If you are not ready to be straight forward, if you cannot be thorough and if you cannot be very timely, don’t just go near the Col.”, highlighted the NIPR National President, noting that Ali epitomizes the good qualities of the Institute’s Ambassador, which ultimately is invaluable discipline.
It would be recalled that Ali, yesterday fully handed over the task of official dissemination of Customs information to the Public Relations Officer, as he declared that any officers caught doing their job, from other departments would be severely sanctioned.
In his remark, CGC Ali said he would continue to support public relations, both as an art for promoting the Service image and also as a tool for fostering peace and boosting revenue generation.
He tasked the Public Relations Officers participating in the three- day Workshop on Crisis Communication to get the best out of the coursework, harness and ensure proper coordination, consistently remaining on same page with management, while prudently executing their mandate with utmost efficiency.