The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commissioned the rehabilitated Ebubu Primary Healthcare Centre in Eleme, Rivers State, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, known as ‘Customs Cares’, aimed at supporting communities and contributing to their social development.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, spoke during the commissioning of the facility, said the intervention reflected the Service’s responsibility to contribute to the wellbeing of communities beyond its statutory mandates of revenue collection, trade facilitation and border security.
CGC Adeniyi recalled how NCS officially launched the CSR Programme in March 2025, said “School renovations, scholarships, medical outreaches, healthcare facility rehabilitation, food distribution, agricultural initiatives, skills acquisition, solar-powered lighting, borehole projects and other community infrastructure as areas where Customs Cares had made interventions.”
He said the Ebubu project was particularly significant because healthcare was fundamental to human dignity, productivity and community development, noting that the condition of the centre before the intervention had affected the delivery of quality primary healthcare services to residents and surrounding communities, adding that, “What we have achieved here is therefore more than physical rehabilitation. We have invested in access, dignity and hope.”
He, however, stressed that the rehabilitation of the facility would only achieve its purpose if the centre were properly managed and maintained, adding that its sustainability would require adequate staffing, regular maintenance and continued support from relevant government institutions and the community.
The CGC also appreciated the traditional rulers, community leaders, Rivers State Government, Rivers State Primary Health Care Board, Eleme Local Government Council, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders who contributed to the project’s success.
The Customs Area Controller, Port Harcourt II Area Command, Onne, Comptroller Aliyu Alkali, said the Service’s impact should not be measured only by revenue figures or enforcement statistics, but also by the positive difference its presence makes in the communities where it operates.
Also speaking, the Comptroller in charge of the Corporate Social Responsibility Unit, Comptroller Patience Ibrahim, said the initiative reflected the Service’s belief that its responsibility to Nigerians extended beyond revenue collection to making a meaningful difference in the communities it serves.
Meanwhile, dignitaries who attended the function said the rehabilitated centre would bring quality healthcare closer to residents, while urging the community and other stakeholders to take ownership of the facility and ensure its continued usefulness.