By Nkechi Eze
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commissioned the rehabilitated Ebubu Primary Healthcare Centre in Eleme, Rivers State, in a move aimed at improving access to quality healthcare and strengthening its social impact in host communities.
The intervention, executed under the Service’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, Customs Cares, was commissioned on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, as part of efforts to complement government’s investment in community development.
Speaking at the commissioning, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the project reflected the Service’s commitment to supporting the wellbeing of communities beyond its statutory responsibilities of revenue collection, trade facilitation and border security.
According to Adeniyi, the NCS formally launched the Customs Cares programme in March 2025 to provide targeted interventions in areas that directly affect the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians.
He said the initiative had supported school renovations, scholarships, medical outreaches, healthcare facility rehabilitation, food distribution, agricultural initiatives, skills acquisition, solar-powered lighting, borehole projects and other community infrastructure.
The CGC described the Ebubu healthcare project as particularly significant because access to healthcare remained fundamental to human dignity, productivity and sustainable community development.
He recalled that the condition of the facility before its rehabilitation had constrained the delivery of primary healthcare services to residents of Ebubu and surrounding communities.
“What we have achieved here is therefore more than physical rehabilitation. We have invested in access, dignity and hope,” Adeniyi said.
The Customs boss, however, stressed that the completion of the project would only achieve its intended purpose if the facility was properly managed and maintained.
He called for adequate staffing, regular maintenance and sustained support from relevant government institutions and the community to ensure the facility remained functional and continued to serve residents for years to come.
Adeniyi appreciated traditional rulers, community leaders, the Rivers State Government, Rivers State Primary Health Care Board, Eleme Local Government Council, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders for their contributions towards the successful completion of the project.
Also speaking, the Customs Area Controller, Port Harcourt II Area Command, Onne, Comptroller Aliyu Alkali, said the impact of the Service should not be measured solely by revenue generated or enforcement statistics, but also by the positive difference it makes in communities where it operates.
Similarly, the Comptroller in charge of the Corporate Social Responsibility Unit, Comptroller Patience Ibrahim, said Customs Cares reflected the Service’s commitment to extending its responsibilities beyond revenue collection to improving the wellbeing of Nigerians.
Dignitaries at the commissioning described the rehabilitated healthcare centre as a significant intervention that would bring essential healthcare services closer to residents, while urging the community and other stakeholders to take ownership of the facility and ensure its continued functionality.
The commissioning further underscores the Nigeria Customs Service’s expanding community-focused interventions under Customs Cares, as the Service seeks to complement its core mandates with initiatives targeted at improving social infrastructure and supporting communities across the country.
