Why did Nigeria Customs name its indigenous trade platform, B’Odogwu?

Have you ever wondered why the Nigeria Customs Service named its disruptive indigenous trade platform B’Odogwu? As a shipping stakeholder, customs broker, importer, exporter, or a port user, you may asked rhetorically, why a technological innovation such as the Customs ruling and risk assessment platform be given a local name? Well, it was developed in Nigeria and by Nigerians, but that is not enough to give it an Igbo name. It could have been named B’Idan (Yoruba) or A’Mutumin Kirki (Hausa). After all, the very industrious and admirable head of Nigeria Customs, Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi is a Yoruba man and so is his tech-savy head of the Customs ICT/Modernisation Department, Deputy Comptroller-General Kikelomo Adeola. Also, the service’s management is mostly populated by citizens of Northern extract. So, again, you may wonder why an Igbo term was chosen for the indigenous trade tech.

You’re not alone. Many stakeholders have asked the questions in recent past – what is B’Odogwu? What does it stand for? What does it refer to? How did it even come about? These were same questions asked by an international trade expert, Lucky Amiwero at a recent breakfast meeting organised by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) in Apapa, Lagos.

Amiwero is the founder and president of President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), a prominent licenced customs brokers association in the Nigerian shipping industry. The vocal and flontline licenced Customs agent is versed and versatile in Customs matters and has trained hundreds of Customs officers, clearing agents and journalists reporting shipping and maritime in Nigeria and other African nations. So, when Amiwero asks a question on Customs matters, it should matter.

An assistant Comptroller of Customs, Abass Oladepo, at a recent industry forum provides insight into how the Customs ruling tool was code-named, B’Odogwu.

According to Oladepo, the name “B’Odogwu” is a combination of “B” representing “Border” and “Odogwu,” which is an Igbo term signifying strength and resilience.

“This goes to highlight the confidence the Nigeria Customs Service has on the new trade innovation. The name exerts great confidence, as when a man is referred to as an “Odogwu”, it shows his capability and ability to engage all life situations successfully,” Oladepo explained.

B’Odogwu is pronounced as “Bodogwu” and not as “B- Odogwu” as many stakeholders call it.

ACG Oladepo is a critical hand in the Customs ICT/ Modernisation project, who has trained hundreds of Customs officers and brokers.

At the AMSAY Conference held in Apapa on May 27, where he represented the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, Oladepo was quite convincing about B’Odogwu as a term meant to reflect the new tech’s role in strengthening customs processes at the borders and its efficiency in handling trade.

Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi

B’Odogwu to earn $250 billion 

The Nigeria Customs launched B’Odogwu as a pilot project at the PTML Port in Apapa, Lagos on October 23, 2024 and since then, the indigenous trade tool has proven to worth its onion.

Now, the trade platform has been launched at several other borders, including Nigeria’s premier seaport, Apapa Port and the Tincan Island Port also in Apapa, as well Port Harcourt and Onne ports.

The Customs expects to generate $250 billion over a period of 20 years with the B’Odogwu and its accompanying modernisation projects initiated to digitalise and automate trade processes and transactions at the ports and borders.

At the cost of $3.2 billion, the Customs modernisation projects led by the ground-breaking B’Odogwu digital trade platform which have helped to raise the Service’s revenue generation by over 50% since it’s first deployment at the PTML Command in 2023.

Already, the Customs claims B’Odogwu has helped it to achieve N1.3 trillion revenue generation in first quarter of 2025, an amount about N600 billion more than the revenue generated in the corresponding period of 2024.

A distriptive innovation

Speaking at the 9th AMSAY Conference in Lagos, organised by Platforms Communications, with the theme,  “Automation and Digitalisation of Maritime Operations,” Oladepo, said the Customs modernisation project concessioned to a private company comprises a set of technological innovation to improve trade facilitation, enhance cargo clearance process, institionalise electronic cargo tracking and ensure proper risk control.

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He said: “B’Odogwu launched on 23 October 2024 at the PTML port has brought about efficiency, transparency and enforcement. It has reduced clearance timeline from 21 days to seven or 10 days for compliant importers and ensuring fast track for agro-exports. At the PTML Port, cars on RoRo can be cleared within one hour, while containerised cargos can be cleared withing six hours. This is a great improvement from what we used to have under the NCIS.”

According to him, trade facilitation through automation is emerging as an important factor for international trade and economic development of countries.

“Digitalisation in Nigeria Customs is not just a modernisation initiative, but also marks a paradigm shift in governance, risk control, trade facilitation and economic transformation,” he said.

B’Odogwu, 100% indigenous

B’Odogwu was created by a wholly-owned Nigerian company called Trade Modernisation Project Limited. The company jointly worked with the Nigeria Customs Service on the B’Odogwu project.

Oladepo explained that the project is completely Nigerian, built by Nigerians and operated by trained men and officers of the NCS. This goes a long way to ensure that national trade data are protected and not indiscriminately or unintentionally shared to malicious sources.

“As a web-based tool, B’Odogwu allows a trader to register Form M from the comfort of his office or home. Other persons, authorised or otherwise, cannot use your name to do a job as we used to have with the old NCIS. With B’Odogwu, we have done away with old ways of doing trade and all the issues that come with it,” he said.

Not yet uhuru

The adoption of B’Odogwu is not only chilling, but signified a landmark improvement on Customs processes. It has improved efficiency, reduced cargo dwell time, thereby reduced demurrage charges and increase government revenue.

However, it is not yet uhuru. ACG Oladepo cited some challenges faced by the Service in its digitalisation efforts to include training and upskilling of officers, integrating multiple agencies and ensuring sustainability of the digitalisation projects.

Also, the Customs continues to deal with stubborn issues with some port operators, which impact on the success of the digitalisation efforts.

For instance, Oladepo decried failure of terminal operators to acquire scanners in line with their terms of contract, saying that the behaviour suggests that terminal operators are not in tandem with Customs digitalisation plans.

The Nigeria Customs will need to follow its digitalisation roadmap religious, even in the face of transition to another administration in order to ensure sustainability of port and border automation.