Nigeria, April 5 -- There was something about the moment that did not feel staged. It came in the middle of an official outing, on Saturday, 4 April in Iperu, Ogun State, where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had just commissioned the new Federal Operations Unit Zone 'A' complex of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

It was meant to be another auspicious engagement by Mr President; one of many. But in the course of the event, the President deliberately paused to speak about the leadership of the Nigeria Customs and its Comptroller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. And in that brief moment, the event took on a different weight.

Tinubu described Adeniyi as "very dedicated and performing." It was not a long sentence, and it did not try to impres...