The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) has commenced construction of a 30-bed hospital worth N500 million for the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), symbolised by a groundbreaking ceremony recently held at the Customs Service Command in Bauchi State.Â
The groundbreaking of the state-of-the-art medical edifice in Bauchi State is coming after the presentation of letters of award to Nigeria’s security agencies in December 2022 by Ubon Udoh, the MD/CEO of ASR Africa.Â
Adewale Adeniyi ,the comptroller general of the Nigerian Customs Service, expressed his appreciation to the chairman of ASR Africa for the grant awarded to the agency. He mentioned that this gesture is worthy of mention as it is the first of such a huge donation to the Nigeria Customs Service from any organisation.Â
Adeniyi added that upon assumption of Office as the CG, he deemed it fit to continue the project as the welfare of the agency’s personnel is his utmost priority. He promised that the Nigerian Customs Service is committed to ensuring adequate deployment of medical personnel for the effective use of the facility when completed.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Ubon Udoh (MD, ASR Africa) reiterated the commitment of Abdul Samad Rabiu, the chairman of ASR Africa and the BUA Group, in fulfilling the pledges made to the security agencies across Nigeria. He further stated that ASR Africa has engaged with all the beneficiaries of the security grant and is on track to ensure the implementation of all projects selected by the armed forces and security agencies. He thanked the leadership of the Nigerian Customs Service for partnering with ASR Africa on this project.
It will be recalled that Rabiu, on his visit to the immediate past President of Nigeria in December 2022, announced a grant of N10 billion to the Nigerian armed forces and security agencies. This grant, part of the Security Sector Support grant, is aimed at providing support for security agencies in the country and the armed forces to effectively and efficiently fulfill their mandate to the Nigerian people.
Other beneficiaries include the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Immigration Service, Department of Secret Services (DSS), Nigeria Police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigerian Correctional Service.
