Recently, the Minister of Transport; Mr Rotimi Amaechi did what previous Ministers failed to do. While his predecessors looked the other way as freight forwarders crippled their regulatory agency; the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Amaechi told those who cared to listen that the CRFFN must be accorded its statutory respect as stipulated in its enabling Act.
At an even organised in Lagos by Maritime Correspondents Organisation of Nigeria (MARCON), the Minister told the gathering which included leaders of most freight forwarding associations, Amaechi told them that they either settle their differences with the CRFFN or they will be made to seek the Council’s approval for their Customs license.
He gave the freight forwarding and Customs brokers associations two weeks to resolve their differences, even as he threatened that, if they can not agree with the CRFFN after the expiration of the ultimatum, he will declare that their companies undergo fresh registration with the CRFFN.
“You must meet with the CRFFN and resolve your differences. We will insist that you register with the CRFFN, it’s the law”, he maintained.
Not done, he added: “Let me talk to the customs practitioners, there is a law that you people are breaking and that law has to do with an agency in my ministry”
“I have met with the Comptroller General of Customs and we are starting a fresh registration of all customs agents and the requirement will be to go and register there, before you can became a customs agent”
“Myself and the CGC have agreed to meet and all I will tell him is to go and announce to customs agents to go and start fresh registration, because they must comply with the law”, he added.
Since saying this, opinions have been divided over the right of the Minister to force customs brokers to register with the CRFFN. Some have said – ‘we are customs agents and not freight forwarders’. They chant that they are accountable to the Nigeria Customs Service and by extension, the Ministry of Finance. To these people, our question is: Where do they operate from- The Port Environment. What is the difference between what they do at the ports and what members of NAGAFF, AREFF, and even Council of Managing Directors do? They do the same thing; they clear cargoes!
Some have also argued that, it is not within the Minister’s prerogative to ‘decree’ that they must bow to the CRRFN. They threaten as always to go to court. To these people, we say – because they are registered with the CRFFN, either as freight forwarding associations or as individual practitioners, they are answerable to the Council.
It is obvious that the bone of contention is money. There was a time when there was no Council, the associations collected revenues from their members. Some leaders fed fat on these monies, while the association cried. Later, things changed and the associations began direct collections from key air and seaports.
Then came the novel idea of collection of Practitioners Operation Fees (POF) by the CRFFN, and hell was let loose, greed and suspicion took over.
Arguably, the CRFFN is the most bruised agency in the Nigerian maritime industry, sadly the attacks come from its own immediate constituents; the freight forwarders.
Since its creation in 2007, the CRFFN has not enjoyed peace; it has had to contend with challenges from freight forwarding associations and individual freight forwarders, at different times.
When it was created in 2007 via an Act of the National Assembly, the Council 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 afterwards be faced with ‘life-threatening’ issues, such as have forced it not to have a governing council for years running and also become so cash-strapped as not to be able to meet its obligations.
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.
We recall vividly that after its creation, it took a long while to have a governing council and the pioneer governing council also spent most part of its two years brokering peace between it and some individuals and between it and some institutions.
But the Council had a little respite, during the tenure of Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju as its chairman. During that time, he demonstrated uncommon ability to steer the ship of the council. This, he did going by 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 train- 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. The nomenclature and form of the fees was later changed to Practitioners Operating Fees (POF), yet no peace.
We honestly commend the Council’s Registrar; Sir Mike Jukwe for his ability to hold on and ensure that the Council did not run aground , especially in the face of paucity of funds and various gang-ups against him and the council by varied interests.
On this note, we support any effort that will bring life back to the CRFFN. This includes the recent directive of the Minister of Transport. While consultations will still be encouraged, it is our firm belief that the CRFFN has suffered enough.
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