The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has faulted the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA) for informing freight forwarders that the ongoing in-house training programme by the Nigeria Customs service at its National Secretariat has become a prerequisite for the renewal of their licences.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday by its National Protocol/Head of Special Duties, Vincent Nnogu, NAGAFF described the announcement by ANLCA as “misleading” and “tantamount to abuse of privilege”.
Nnogu said the fact that ANLCA national secretariat is named ‘Inde Dikko House’ after the Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Inde Abdullahi, does not mean that the secretariat has become the training college of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
“The ongoing training at Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA) secretariat is an in-house training programme, hence, a tutored national training programme of the service is expected to be observed and undertaken at the different Customs training colleges nationwide, as Customs Agency Legislation is not limited to Lagos operations alone.
“The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), by our inform position is aware that the Nigeria Customs administration is one that thrives and being optimally administered via official circulars, legal notices and memos, therefore, it is pertinent to state here that, there is no existing memo conferring on ANLCA or its National Secretariat the status as a ”training centre” for certification purposes, issued there from nor to serve as an official requirement for licensing regulations, applications, hence the renewal requirement is determined by the License Inspection department of the services.
“It has become necessary to caution that, there is no where it has ever become administrative for a professional association to assume position of the mouth piece of any government agency, how much more a critical stakeholder in the international supply chain, like the Nigeria Customs Service.
“The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), wishes to advise our sister association- ANLCA not to abuse the good gestures and intents of the Comptroller General of Customs, whereby such are reduced intents to a mere instrument of industry monopoly or a tool to representing a yaoman’s job.
“The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) secretariat therefore opines that, the integrity of the Service and that of the Comptroller General of Customs must not be openly dragged into Association manipulation and intrigues so as not to whittle down its unbiased umpire posture position as enshrined in its status books,” NAGAFF stated.
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