By ZAKAA LAZARUS
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has once again received international recognition for its strategic communication and stakeholder engagement efforts, with the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, receiving a Special Award of Excellence at the 2026 International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Awards in Athens, Greece, on Friday, 25 September 2026.
The award recognises the Service’s approach to transparent communication, stakeholder engagement and ethical public relations in supporting the implementation and public understanding of its ongoing reforms, particularly initiatives aimed at modernising Customs operations, improving trade facilitation and strengthening institutional transparency.
Receiving the recognition, CGC Adeniyi described the honour as international acknowledgement of the Nigeria Customs Service’s reform efforts, noting that it would further encourage the Service to deepen its adoption of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, in public communication and stakeholder engagement.
“We have started using AI tools in our public communication, and we view this recognition as an invitation to do more. By 2027, we hope the NCS and more Nigerian agencies will feature prominently among global award recipients,” he said.
CGC Adeniyi said effective communication remained critical to the success of government reforms because citizens and stakeholders needed to understand their objectives, implementation challenges and expected benefits. He added that the NCS reform agenda aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies, particularly efforts to improve Nigeria’s trade competitiveness, facilitate exports, and strengthen the country’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He further celebrated Nigeria’s win at the IPRA Grand Prix, describing the achievement as an indication of the country’s growing participation in international strategic communication. The Grand Prix was awarded to Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, for its campaign, AI for Crisis Communication: From Study to Strategy.
The campaign grew out of a research project led by IMPR’s Chief Executive Officer, Yushau Shuaib, in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Centre for Crisis Communication. The project examined the growing challenges of AI-driven misinformation, deepfakes and digital information disorder and translated its findings into a strategic communication initiative.
Earlier in her welcome remarks, the President of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), Esther Cobbah, stated that the return to Athens was particularly significant because the city was where the association developed its Code of Conduct for public relations practice 60 years ago, noting that the 2026 gathering provided an opportunity to celebrate individuals, agencies and organisations that had applied the principles of ethical communication while delivering excellence in their work. “Sixty years ago, in Athens, we built the code of ethics for public relations practice. Today, we have come back to Athens to see how we have deployed those ethics in our work.”
