NAGAFF to suspend Tin Can chairman over resignation threat

The last may not have been heard about the threat to resign by the Tin Can Island chapter chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Austin Ekweozor, as the association’s leadership is determined to suspend him.
Investigations last week by SHIPS & PORTS DAILY, showed that the national leadership of the association might suspend Ekweozor anytime soon, following his threat to resign his position in the association.
A reliable source who preferred anonymity, said the national leadership of the association, including the Board of Trustees was embarrassed by the allegations against them and the way Ekweozor went about announcing his planned resignation.
The source said the association could no longer bear the embarrassment that the threat had caused it, and that it was bent on taking punitive action against the embattled Chairman.
He stated further that the proposed action by the national leadership was needed to send a warning signal to other elected officials of NAGAFF who might want to threaten the association in future.
He however said that the association was looking for a credible replacement that would steer the activities of the association in the right direction before the suspension is announced.
“The way Ekweozor presented his resignation embarrassed the national leadership and they are ready to suspend him.
“He should have been suspended, but the action was delayed because of the incident that happened to him when he traveled home recently. We want him to recover from that incident before we wield the big stick,” the source told SHIPS & PORTS DAILY last week.
Though the source acknowledged that Ekweozor had apologised to the Board of Trustees and the national leadership for the embarrassment the resignation threat might have caused them; they are not satisfied until he apologises through the same medium he announced his resignation.
When contacted, the founder of the association, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, said the issue was an internal one and must be treated as such.
He however chided Ekweozor for presenting his grievances through the media instead of making use of the internal mechanism of the association.
He said, “It is an internal matter and not an issue because if you are a chairman of NAGAFF, you should not resign on the pages of newspapers,” Aniebonam said.
SHIPS & PORTS DAILY had reported exclusively on August 8 that Ekweozor had lamented the national leadership’s unbridled demand for money from him. He threatened to resign his chairmanship if the national leadership of the association continued seeking money from him.

He said the leadership of the association, including the Board of Trustees (BoT) had been asking for money they knew was beyond his capacity to provide.
He said the type of financial pressure the national leadership of the association was putting on him was beyond his power.