Customs Area Controller (CAC) at the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal Command (KLTC), Comptroller Martina Tilley-Gyado has generated N48billion revenue for the Federal Government out of allotted target of N62billion for 2023.
Also, Tilley-Gyado is strengthening collaboration with all stakeholders, even as she is working assiduously to enhance trade facilitation for more revenue inflows for the Federal Government.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by members of the Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN), she said: “I believe strongly in team work and effective collaboration. Immediately I assumed office as the Area Controller, I visited all stakeholders, including shipping companies because I strongly believe in working synergy to help me achieve my mandate of revenue generation.
“The Command is strategically positioned. Buses can go by barges to Alaba-International market, as well as the trade fair complex and we have sufficient space to work on. The Command has the capacity to accommodate up to 6,000 TEUs, but at the moment, we don’t have up to that number.
“In Kirikiri Lighter Terminal Command, we prioritize our statutory responsibilities
at all times. Freight agents and maritime traders can take delivery of their containers within 48 hours.”
More so, besides being a highly skilled professional in Customs procedures, Tilley-Gyado operates an open-door policy that makes it easier for freight agents and other stakeholders to approach her without restraint.
As a Controller, who can stand up from her seat to resolve issues brought to her attention by freight agents and her subordinates, it was revealed that administrative bottlenecks and bureaucracy common in seeing some Area Controllers in other formations have no place in KLTC, because Tilley-Gyado believes in getting the work done at the right time.
A time conscious and committed officer, her humility in public office has endeared her to many stakeholders in the maritime industry, just as she remains focused on doing her job and yet very unassuming.
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She is doing her best to reposition the Command for greater productivity going forward. Since she came on board, Tilley-Gyado has worked tirelessly to assist new Terminals at KLTC in getting approvals. These include Beachline Consortium, Climax Logistics and Skymarine terminal.
Through her commitment and her efforts to enhance trade facilitation and more revenue collection for economic sustainability, she ensured that Beachline Consortium secured probational approval, Cimax Logistics was granted final approval, while Skymarine Terminal was given final approval for operations at the port.
In the same vein, the DC Revenue of KLTC, Mrs. S.M. Wadinda commended Tilley-Gyado, describing her as “exemplary team leader, a goal-getter and competent administrator.”
Wadinda explained that getting more containers at the Command will boost revenue collection for the federation account, adding: “We wait on other ports to get containers by barges and transfers. Without the boxes, the revenue cannot match-up.
“The CAC has done a lot and her efforts translated into increase in revenue collection on the N48billion we have realized so far. We also have export terminal at KLTC. The sea is just besides us. The Command is small, but we are working hard to see how best we can increase revenue generation.”
It would be recalled that before now the KLT Customs Command was seriously impeded by the traffic gridlock which blocked Vehicular movement in and out of the Command. Meaning that officers had only one choice, which was to ride on bikes to get to the office with all the associated hazards, but when Tilley-Gyado assumed duty, she resolved the issue by collaborating with all security agencies managing traffic on the axis.
This resulted in a situation where officers and men of the Command, Freight Forwarders and other visitors now conveniently driving on one lane of the road into the KLT Command, which is one of the many reasons the KLT Command is witnessing transformation championed by Tilley-Gyado.
