The Man Comptroller Frank Onyeka
By Ovie Edomi
From the Enforcement Unit at Seme Border in 1991 to the helm of Tin Can Island Port Command in 2025, the career of Comptroller Frank O. Onyeka reads like a masterclass in institutional growth through discipline, intellect, and field experience.
Commissioned as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent after six months at the Nigeria Customs Training College, Ikeja, Onyeka cut his teeth at Seme Area Command before serving in Jalingo, Lilypond Export Command, and Kirikiri Lighter Terminal. But it was his 2010 move into the Tariff and Trade Department that shaped his reputation as a revenue strategist. At Tin Can Island Port, he headed System Audit in Valuation, led operations at Don Climax Bonded Terminal, and from 2020-2022 served as Deputy Comptroller in Charge of Valuation.
His tour of duty took him to Onne’s Federal Ocean Terminal Exit Gate and later to Apapa Port’s Main Exit Gate, where his operational style drew notice at headquarters. In a break with precedent, he was named Acting Area Controller of Tin Can Island Port while still a Deputy Comptroller – the first to hold the post at that rank. His confirmation as substantive Comptroller in January 2025 formalised what many at the port already acknowledged: a shift toward data-driven, pragmatic leadership.
Beyond the ports, Onyeka is a fixture in the Service’s classrooms. He trains recruits at the Command and Staff Colleges and now leads the Tin Can Island Port Training and Doctrine programmes. Twice a recipient of the Comptroller General’s Value Addition Award, in 2023 and 2024, he was also recipient of Gold award for Leadership Excellence by the League of Maritime Editors in 2025. He was a recipient of Outstanding Area Controller of the year, 2025 an award by Maritime watch ventures. The Nigeria Professional Wrestling Federation in 2025, also awarded him Beacon of Economic Excellence of the Nation.
He was recently nominated by the CGC as a Board Member of the Nigerian Volleyball Federation.
His Contributions to the Service includes
* Ensuring maximum revenue generation for the Federal Government.
* He participated in the implementation of the Vehicle Identification Number Valuation Service. A flagship policy of the NCS.
* He led the Dispute Resolution Committee in TCIP, where he facilitated revenue recovery, running into trillions of Naira.
* He boosted revenue collection and executed significant seizures while in Apapa Area Command, Area 2 Onne and now Tincan.
* He has recorded countless seizures of narcotics such as Cannabis Indica and Tramadol worth billions of Naira.
Indeed, since assuming duties in Tincan, as the Comptroller, he has set new records in area of Revenue Generation which includes:
* The collection of 16 Billion naira in a single day under the newly introduced Unified Customs Management System, known as Bodogwu (Another flagship innovation of the (NCS)
* Introduction of One Stop Shop, thereby eliminating multiple alerts in order to facilitate trade.Officers now embrace e-transactions, boosting transparency and efficiency. Onyeka’s Paperless Customs is one the boldest initiatives.
Certainly, Onyeka’s scorecard is more than numbers; it is a testament to reform, resilience, and resolve. His managerial success is evident in rising revenue, digital reforms, strengthened enforcement, and stakeholder satisfaction.
Today, colleagues describe him as one of the Service’s most intellectually admired officers – a description earned not by title, but by three decades of consistent, measurable impact, remarkable transformation under dedicated stewardship. No wonder, he remains amongst the CGC’s first eleven squad and his slogan remains, no choking.