NCS rehabilitates primary healthcare centre in Rivers

By Onu Okorie

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commissioned the rehabilitated Ebubu Primary Healthcare Centre in Eleme, Rivers State, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, ‘Customs Cares’, aimed at improving access to basic healthcare and supporting community development.
Commissioning the facility on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the intervention demonstrated the Service’s commitment to the wellbeing of Nigerians beyond its statutory responsibilities of revenue collection, trade facilitation and border security.
Adeniyi recalled that the NCS formally launched the Customs Cares programme in March 2025, saying the initiative had since supported communities through school renovations, scholarships, medical outreaches, healthcare facility rehabilitation, food distribution, agricultural programmes, skills acquisition, solar-powered lighting, boreholes and other community infrastructure.
He described the Ebubu healthcare project as particularly significant because access to healthcare was fundamental to human dignity, productivity and sustainable community development.
According to him, the condition of the health centre before the intervention had constrained the delivery of quality 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,” the CGC said.
He, however, cautioned that the rehabilitation would only achieve its intended purpose if the facility was properly managed and maintained.
Adeniyi said its sustainability would depend on adequate staffing, regular maintenance and continued support from relevant government institutions and members of the community.
The Customs boss commended traditional rulers, community leaders, the Rivers State Government, Rivers State Primary Health Care Board, Eleme Local Government Council, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders whose contributions facilitated the 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 assessed solely through revenue generated or enforcement statistics.
He said Customs should also be measured by the positive difference its presence made in communities where its personnel and operations were located.
Similarly, the Comptroller in charge of the Corporate Social Responsibility Unit, Patience Ibrahim, said Customs Cares reflected the Service’s belief that its responsibility to Nigerians extended beyond revenue collection.
She said the initiative was designed to enable the NCS contribute meaningfully to the development and wellbeing of communities across the country.
Dignitaries at the commissioning commended the intervention, saying the rehabilitated centre would bring primary healthcare services closer to residents.
They, however, urged the community and relevant stakeholders to take ownership of the facility, protect the infrastructure and ensure that it remained functional and useful to residents over the long term.