NAGAFF boss, Aniebonam joins issues with Minister over CRFFN Interim Governing Council
… Describes exclusion of freight forwarders as ‘senseless’
The Founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, has said that the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, may not enjoy the support of freight forwarders on his decision to constitute an interim Governing Council for the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN),devoid of any freight forwarder as member.
It would be recalled that SHIPS & PORTS DAILYhad broken the story last month, that the Transport Minister had approved the constitution of a seven-member Interim Governing Council, with members drawn from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Federal Ministry of Transport, to conduct elections for a new CRFFN Governing Council, but no freight forwarder was nominated into the interim body.
Speaking with SHIPS & PORTS DAILY, Aniebonam said that it was senseless for the Transport Minister to agree to the constitution of an Interim Governing Council that lacked the membership of a freight forwarder.
“When we heard that rumuor, we made our position very clear that they may not enjoy our confidence because the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) is a private Council. It’s our Council, under the supervision of the Transport Ministry. So, the minister cannot be doing things without involving the owners of the Council. It doesn’t make sense to me. That is NAGAFF’s opinion and other freight forwarders opinion,” Aniebonam said.
The NAGAFF chieftain also expressed surprise that the National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, favoured an Interim Governing Council that does not involve the membership of a freight forwarder.
“We can always talk from the two sides of a mouth and that is normal with human beings but if we want to be reasonable, everybody who is a freight forwarder cannot stand in for election! What I am saying is that for us to know what is going on in our Council, I use the word our Council, and we need to be involved. That is the point am making! I wouldn’t want to speak from the angle of the president of ANLCA, he is my friend and I respect him a lot, but at times I think we should be bold enough to say what is on our minds,” Aniebonam said.
It would be recalled that in an exclusive chat with SHIPS & PORTS DAILY, Shittu had said: “There is nothing wrong, because the election is going to be conducted among freight forwarders. And you also know that it is always difficult to get representation from freight forwarders, with the multiplicity of the associations, because if they pick one out of merit, the other ones will kick. If you bring one out of political consideration, the other ones will kick! So, it’s better, since the election is going to be about freight forwarding, whoever from outside could conduct the election, provided it’s done free and fair.”
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