National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents ANLCA, Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike.

National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents ANLCA, Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike has said that the coming together of five accredited Freight Forwarding and Customs Brokerage associations under the aegis of Freight Forwarders’ Forum is primarily to speak with one voice with a view to addressing myriads operational challenges plaguing the air and seaport industries in Nigeria.

This is contrary to initial misconceptions that the union was in response to the issues generated by upcoming elections into the Governing Board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding Practice in Nigeria CRFFN.

The Accredited Associations comprise ANLCA, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents NCMDLCA, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria AREFFN and Nigerian Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators NAFFAC.

Speaking in an exclusive interview in Lagos, Wednesday at the sidelines of the Freight Forwarders’ meeting convened at the instance of the Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, the ANLCA President noted that the coming together of the professionals from the various association was to enable them speak with one voice on common issues affecting stakeholders in the maritime and aviation industries and not for the CRFFN elections alone.

According to him, the union is to provide a common and formidable platform to address operational challenges in both industries, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA and other challenges faced not only by the freight forwarders and Customs agents but also by the various segments of industries including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN.

Oher stakeholders include the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture NACCIMA and the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industries LCC, among several other interest and stakeholders’ groups.

“We want the government and its agencies to know that we are united and can speak with one voice unlike in the past when they apply their divide and rule policy on us and it works for them because we could not speak with one voice, so we are looking at addressing the totality of all the challenges bedeviling the maritime and aviation industries, especially as they affect freighting and logistics, so it promises to be holistic and robust”, he said.

On the preparations for the CRFFN elections, he also said that when the associations speak with one voice, it would propel the freight forwarding representatives on the Governing Board of the CRFFN to maintain a common position on issues that affect stakeholders, especially the freight forwarders.

He said further: “The CRFFN stands on a tripod in terms of the membership of its board in line with the provisions of the CRFFN Act of 2007, which partly provide that membership of the board would be from individual, corporate and members of accredited associations.

“Apart from a comprehensive review of all the challenges faced by the stakeholders, we also want the full participation of all the Freight Forwarders in the coming board election of the CRFFN and even after the elections, we want our representatives to always speak with one voice on issues of common interest, which will be a clear departure from the previous situation, whereby they would tend to protect the interest of the individual associations.

“For the first time, the government would know that we are no longer a divided house and we will be taken serious”.

Recall that the forum had held its inaugural meeting on Monday where it discussed issues ranging from arbitrary increase of the value on Pre-Arrival Assessment Report PAAR by the Nigeria Customs Service to stoppage of already cleared and exited consignments by the multiple units of the service, stoppage of containers by officers and men of the Maritime Police, which inhibit trade and commerce. Others include the collection of the Freight Forwarders Practicing Fee POF, the CRFFN elections and the electronic call up system for trucks ETO, among several others.

One of the decisions reached was that the five accredited associations will pick those 15 members who are going to represent them at the CRFFN elections in order to enhance cohesion while the associations will in turn support them through the electioneering processes to ensure that they emerge winners, which will make them speak with one voice.