Immediate past president of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Sir Ernest Elochukwu, has frowned at the present ANLCA leadership’s romance with the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF).
Elochukwu, in a chat with SHIPS & PORTS DAILY in his office in Port Harcourt last week, said that ANLCA, during his administration as its national president, encountered a lot of opposition from NAGAFF as a result of disparity in interests even as he expressed doubts in the genuineness of NAGAFF’s motive towards striking an alliance with ANLCA.
He said: “As the President of ANLCA I knew the problems I had from the leadership of NAGAFF. There are those that are playing key roles here in the industry that needed to be told they are not doing it right but then, during my tenure, I discovered that when the association comes up with anything, NAGAFF was always coming up with a counter! So when Shittu was disposed towards cooperation I said okay fine maybe this will work and it will bring peace and I was pleasantly waiting to see the benefits but it still has not changed anything! Rather it brought more shenanigans, more scheming, more intrigues and (tends) towards personal gains.”
Elochukwu also accused NAGAFF of “blackmailing its way into being fully accredited by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN)” even as he alleged that NAGAFF failed to meet the registration requirements.
He also revealed that the controversy surrounding his company -Nestello Gateways” refusal to pay practicing fees at a time was because he was told that NAGAFF had to append its stamp on documents at his chapter of operation for jobs to be treated.
“I was being told that NAGAFF had to stamp my consignment. When they showed me a document bearing the stamp of NAGAFF, and of course ANLCA and that it was the basis under which the jobs were being treated there, I said no! I was uncomfortable because that’s not what I bargained for. I’m not a member of NAGAFF and therefore should not be subjected to NAGAFF’s approval,” the former ANLCA president stated.
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