The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has received international recognition for its strategic communication and stakeholder engagement efforts, with the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, honoured with a Special Award of Excellence at the 2026 International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Awards in Athens, Greece.
The award was presented on Friday, September 25, 2026, in recognition of the Service’s approach to transparent communication, stakeholder engagement and ethical public relations in advancing public understanding of its ongoing reforms.
The recognition particularly highlighted the NCS initiatives focused on modernising Customs operations, improving trade facilitation and strengthening institutional transparency.
Receiving the award, Adeniyi described the honour as an international acknowledgement of the reform efforts of the Nigeria Customs Service, saying 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.
The Customs boss stressed that effective communication remained critical to the success of government reforms, noting that citizens and stakeholders needed to understand the objectives of reforms, the challenges associated with their implementation and the benefits expected from them.
He said the NCS reform agenda was aligned with the economic policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly efforts to improve Nigeria’s trade competitiveness, facilitate exports and strengthen the country’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Adeniyi also celebrated Nigeria’s success at the IPRA Grand Prix, describing the achievement as evidence 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 emerged from a research project led by IMPR Chief Executive Officer, Yushau Shuaib, in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Centre for Crisis Communication.
The project examined emerging challenges associated with artificial intelligence-driven misinformation, deepfakes and digital information disorder, subsequently translating its findings into a strategic communication initiative.
Earlier in her welcome remarks, President of IPRA, Esther Cobbah, noted the significance of the association’s return to Athens, where its Code of Conduct for public relations practice was developed 60 years ago.
She said 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 respective fields.
“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,” Cobbah said.
