By Kehinde Olaosebikan When history is written about 21st-century trade, Nigeria’s name will appear not just as a market of over 230 million people, but as a country that helped
By Kehinde Olaosebikan
When history is written about 21st-century trade, Nigeria’s name will appear not just as a market of over 230 million people, but as a country that helped write the rules.
At the centre of that story is the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Dr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR- the first Nigerian, and third African, to be elected to lead the World Customs Organization, WCO.
His re-election on July 4, 2026, for a second term to lead the 74-year-old Council was not a coincidence. It was validation. The world looked at what Nigeria was doing at its borders and ports, and decided: we want more of this.
From Abuja to the World Stage
WCO is the global authority on customs. It is an amazing colossus of 187 countries; the leading light for 98% of world trade. The standards it sets determine how fast goods move, how secure supply chains are, and how much revenue governments collect.
For decades, these standards were written mostly in Brussels, Washington, and Beijing. Now, a Nigerian sits at the head of the table.
As Chair of the WCO Council, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi does not just represent Nigeria. He presides over negotiations that affect $35 trillion in global trade. He guides policy on everything from digital customs and e-commerce to anti-smuggling, climate, trade facilitation and wildlife protection. That a Nigerian holds this office confirms two things: the world trusts our expertise, and Nigeria’s reforms are being noticed.
The Nigerian Model Going Global
What exactly did the world see in Nigeria? Three main things:
First, technology. Under Adeniyi’s leadership, NCS built B’Odogwu, an indigenous trade platform designed for Nigeria’s realities. It cut clearance times, reduced human interface, and increased transparency. The WCO took note. Today, elements of Nigeria’s digital approach are being studied as a model for developing economies that might not afford or want expensive foreign systems. When the African Continental Free Trade Area decided to build a single digital system for trade across Africa, it turned to technology developed by Nigeria Customs.
Second, enforcement with intelligence. The last 3 years have seen a decisive push against smuggling, arms proliferation, Illicit Financial Flows and wildlife protection. But it is not brute force. It is data-driven targeting, risk management, and inter-agency cooperation. This is the new global standard: secure borders without killing trade. Nigeria is showing it can be done.
Third, trade facilitation. The Authorized Economic Operator program, advance rulings, and stakeholder engagement have made it easier for compliant businesses to move goods. Revenue is up. So is investor confidence.
The WCO’s core mandate is -Facilitating Trade, Enforcing the Law, and Protecting Society. Nigeria Customs, under Adeniyi, is living that mandate.
The Gains for Nigerians
A Nigerian leading the WCO is not just symbolic. It is strategic.
1. Influence: Nigeria now helps draft the rules that our importers and exporters must follow. We are no longer rule-takers. We are rule-makers. 2. Market Access: As WCO Chair, Nigeria can strategically push for standards that favour African trade, reduce non-tariff barriers, and make AfCFTA work.
3. Reputation: Global investors watch who sets the rules. A Nigerian at the WCO signals that Nigeria is serious about ease of doing business and security.
4. Capacity: The office brings training, partnerships, and best practices back home. What Nigeria learns at the WCO, Nigeria Customs applies at Apapa, Tin Can, Seme, and other ports.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu captured it best when he commended the CGC and the Service for “keying into the Renewed Hope Agenda and delivering outstanding results.” This is Renewed Hope with a global footprint.
The Burden of Leadership
Leading the WCO is not a tea party. The world is facing new challenges: e-commerce fraud, climate-related trade measures, supply chain disruptions, and the push for green customs. Countries will look to the Chair for direction. For Nigeria, this is both an opportunity and a responsibility.
The opportunity is to ensure African voices are heard in global trade. The responsibility is to keep reforming at home so that Nigeria remains credible abroad.
From all indications, the WCO Chairperson understands this. His tenure at WCO has been marked by bridge-building: between developed and developing nations, between security and facilitation, between government and the private sector. He has been very efficacious.
A Legacy in the Making
Twenty years or more from now, students of public policy will ask: when did Nigeria start punching above its weight in global governance? Part of the answer will be: 2025, when Bashir Adewale Adeniyi became WCO Chair. And 2026, when the world asked him to do it again. This is about more than one man. It is about what is possible when competence meets opportunity. When a public servant rises through the ranks – from Public Relations to Head of Training to CGC – and takes Nigerian experience to the world.
Wale Adeniyi is not just leading Nigeria Customs. A Nigerian is helping to shape how the world trades and how the world stays secure. And that should make every Nigerian proud.
I write this with great pride.
•Olaosebikan is a journalist, public affairs analyst and publisher of The Globe Now.
