A former National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Ernest Elochukwu, has berated the incumbent President, Tony Iju Nwabunike, over the crisis rocking the association.
Elochukwu, who is also a member of the ANLCA Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), attributed the crisis in the association to lack of leadership, saying that Iju “won a dubious victory”.
Speaking during a general meeting of the Western Zone of the association in Lagos on Wednesday, he said, “Tony Iju won a dubious victory. What we are suffering in the association today is lack of leadership. If I start recounting my private discussion with him to do some things to move the association forward, he will agree with me but in the next minute, another thing will happen.
“We are not happy that the association’s image has plummeted and we are eager to do anything that will make peace return. What we are asking for all this while is for them to behave appropriately and be able to show the same good fate for us to solve the problem.”
Also speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the BoT, Taiwo Mustapha, said he was committed to finding a lasting solution to the lingering crisis in the association in order to reposition it into a more formidable group in the maritime industry.
For the past two years, ANLCA has been enmeshed in leadership crisis that has affected the growth of the association.
Mustapha said the crisis in ANLCA has made the association lose its respect in the industry and prevented it from getting the needed attention from the government, especially as it concerns operational challenges affecting members.
He expressed the hope that the crisis rocking the association would be resolved before the end of the year.
He said, “It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation. ANLCA had always been one big family and it has always been good for us but somehow we found ourselves in this situation.
“Even in the same household, sometimes there is quarrel but what is more important is settling the quarrel and moving forward. I am personally interested in resolving this crisis and I have made up my mind that irrespective of whatever name anybody calls me, we are going to resolve this crisis.
“Those who don’t want it resolved, we will find a way to do it that at the end of the day, they will come back to say they are sorry. This crisis has caused us a lot and we have lost our respect in the industry.”