Immediate past President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Eugene Nweke has said that the only regret he had during his six years tenure as NAGAFF’s President is the inability of stakeholders in the freight forwarding industry to agree on a source of funding for the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).
Nweke who spoke with newsmen shortly before handing over to his successor in Lagos on Monday recalled that all attempts made with the stakeholders to fashion out a lawful means of generating money for CRFFN which in turn would be used by the agency to build the capacity of the freight forwarders were rebuffed by those he called the gladiators in the freight forwarding industry.
He noted that while the freight forwarding practitioners got the regulatory body they fought and laboured for, the agency could not do much due to lack of capital.
He however expressed hope that the Minister of Transportation would see the need to refocus CRFFN to perform so as to have a line up of professionals in the industry.
He said, “One of the reasons why some of us, when we came onboard initiated the cargo clearance dues for the freight forwarders which overtime was turned down by the governing council and we went back again and brought what we called the transaction fee and that again was turned down by the gladiators in the industry, we came up yet again with POF (Practitioners’ Operating Fee) and here we are today. If I am having any regret today, it is because that fund that would have created capacity through CRFFN has not come.
“Today, we have a regulatory body we fought for, laboured for but at the end of the day, it can’t do much because of capital. I believe that the present Minister (of Transport) will see the need to focus CRFFN to perform so that we will have a line up of professionals in the freight forwarding profession,” he said.
On his tenure, he said, “There were challenges but with commitment, trusting God and believing in the vision one has cut out for himself pursuing it with zeal, commitment and the fear of God. That is why we are where we are. I can’t tell you there were no challenges, there were some of them but we are where we are today to the glory of God.”
He expressed appreciation to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the support they gave NAGAFF in the area of capacity building.
According to him, future generations of freight forwarders would still benefit from his achievements especially in the area of capacity building for members of NAGAFF.
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