In the last few weeks, there have been moves by prominent freight forwarders to refloat the cash-strapped and comatose Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN). At the instance of the immediate past chairman of the governing council; Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju, there had been two meetings in Lagos.
In the last few weeks, there have been moves by prominent freight forwarders to refloat the cash-strapped and comatose Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN). At the instance of the immediate past chairman of the governing council; Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju, there had been two meetings in Lagos.
The first meeting was attended by practitioners who were members of the first and second governing council of the CRFFN. The second meeting which held last week at the same venue as the first was attended by leaders (including presidents) of the five associations that were registered by CRFFN.
And apparently tired of bickering, attendees at both meetings agreed that it was high time they helped their council to get up again, having contributed to bringing it down on its knees for several months.
When it was created in 2007 via an Act of the National Assembly, the CRFFN was conceived as the possible solution to the myriad of problems that were militating against freight forwarding and logistics in Nigeria.
Those who fought for its birth would never have envisaged that the council would shortly after its birth, be faced with life-threatening issues, such as have forced it not to have a governing council for months running.
One of the first questions that its promoters may ask is; whether it was wrong to have fought for the creation of a body that would enhance the freight forwarding profession in Nigeria.
It is a fact that since its creation in 2007, the CRFFN has known little or no peace. Its pioneer governing council spent ample time brokering peace between it and some individuals and between it and some institutions.
At the earlier part of its existence, it was engaged by the factional national president, National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents, Mr Lucky Amiwero; the fight is still before the courts.
Mr Amiwero had dragged the CRFFN, the minister of transport as well as the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to court over allegations of irregularities in the conduct of elections into the governing council in 2008.
While we can not categorically say that the case involving the Council of Managing Directors is dead, CRFFN had also at one time had issues with the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) over interpretation of the Act which established the Council.
There was also the face-off with an unregistered, body called, International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association (IFFFA). The IFFFA had in a letter to International Federation of Freight Forwarding Associations (FIATA) allegedly instilled fear in FIATA, saying that the safety of its officials who were being expected for a train-the-trainer’s programme could not be guaranteed in Nigeria.
When he held sway as the chairman of the governing council, Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju demonstrated uncommon ability to steer the ship of the council. This, he demonstrated in the way he was able to reach a compromise with the NAGAFF during the face-off, and also in the manner in which he was able to tame the ‘renegades’ called IFFFA and the dogged manner in which he was able to pursue the FIATA’s training the trainers programme for freight forwarders.
He, along with the Council’s registrar; Sir Mike Jukwe and other members of the governing council was able to contain the various antics and intrigues which freight forwarders and freight forwarding associations are known for.
In fact, the Council was enjoying an apparently blissful relationship with all its constituents, until the peace was disrupted by the directive from the minister of transport; Senator Idris Umar to the CRFFN that the council could start collecting transaction fees on all imports into the country.
Since the approval became public knowledge, peace has eluded the freight forwarding family; it is so bad that members of the same association no longer trust one another.
It is a surprise that all efforts to end the feud have failed, including the intervention by the minister.
Without any equivocation, the last governing council should be held responsible for the fate that befell the CRFFN. The other accomplices are the leaders of the freight forwarding associations.
It is shameful that the CRFFN could engage its registered associations in a dirty fight over money.
Since the face-off is all about money, the CRFFN and the duo of ANLCA and NAGAFF should have reached a compromise that would have made the action of the minister avoidable.
What the minister did was to dissolve a governing council whose tenure had expired; there may have been no need for this if there had been unity between the CRFFN and its immediate constituents, as represented by the registered associations.
The gladiators only played into the hands of an overbearing ministry of transport.
We had at one time on this page, advocated that constituting an interim governing council is probably the best available option at the time. But, failing to constitute one; months after smirks of an unpardonable attempt to kill the CRFFN.
It is on that note that we commend the efforts of the immediate past chairman of the governing council for rallying stakeholders together to salvage what is left of the Council.
As far as we are concerned, the way forward for CRFFN is to hold elections to usher-in a new set of credible members of the governing council that will take over from where the Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju-led council stopped.
So, all those who have professed to being the brain behind CRFFN and all those who have claimed to have the largest number of members, this is the time to rise and safe ‘your Council’ from imminent death
This they can do by seizing the every important window of opportunity that the recent meetings have provided.
It’s our hope that ANLCA, NAGAFF and other registered associations will for once forget who is ‘bigger’, who the ‘brain behind the creation of CRFFN’ is and who is ‘too small to sit with us’. This is important if the CRFFN is to rise again.
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