Nigeria Customs CG Adeniyi Wins Global Excellence Award in Athens for Reform, Transparency and AI Push

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Nigeria Customs Service Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi has received a Special Award of Excellence at the 2026 International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Awards in Athens, Greece.

The award, presented on Friday, September 25, recognised the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for its strategic communication, stakeholder engagement and commitment to ethical public relations in communicating its ongoing reforms.

The recognition comes as the NCS continues efforts to modernise its operations, improve trade facilitation and strengthen institutional transparency.

Receiving the award, Adeniyi described the honour as an international endorsement of the Service’s reform and communication efforts.

He said the recognition would encourage the NCS to expand its adoption of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, in public communication and engagement with stakeholders.

“We have started using AI tools in our public communication, and we view this recognition as an invitation to do more,” Adeniyi said.

“By 2027, we hope the NCS and more Nigerian agencies will feature prominently among global award recipients.”

The Customs chief also stressed the importance of effective communication to the success of government reforms, noting that citizens and other stakeholders need to understand the objectives of reforms, the challenges involved in implementation and the benefits expected from them.

According to him, the NCS reform agenda is also 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 highlighted another Nigerian achievement at the awards, as Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, won the IPRA Grand Prix for its campaign, “AI for Crisis Communication: From Study to Strategy.”

The award-winning 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 research examined emerging challenges associated with artificial intelligence, including misinformation, deepfakes and digital information disorder, before translating its findings into a strategic communication campaign.

IPRA President Esther Cobbah said the 2026 gathering in Athens carried particular significance for the global public relations community.

She noted that the city was where the association developed its Code of Conduct for public relations practice six decades ago.

“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.

The 2026 IPRA Golden World Awards brought together public relations professionals, organisations and agencies from around the world to celebrate excellence, innovation and ethical communication practice.

Adeniyi’s recognition places the Nigeria Customs Service among the organisations receiving international attention for their approach to communicating institutional reforms, while IMPR’s Grand Prix further highlighted Nigeria’s growing presence in global public relations and strategic communication.