Dr Boniface Aniebonam, the founder of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) in this interview with Shipping Position Daily, reacts to the position of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria on certain industry issues. He also speaks on the crisis rocking the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents as well as the importance of Standards Organisation of Nigeria at the port, and other sundry industry issues.
“What we are quarrelling with MAN is the inherent abuse of those incentives given to them”
A lot of people will like to know why NAGAFF says MAN is not right in its position paper to the President
It is only a fool that will not know that industrialization takes you to the next level, in every country that will generate exports, in shipping parlance you take goods from where it is in abundance to where it is needed, but what we are quarrelling with MAN is the inherent abuse of those incentives given to them by government to power industrialization in Nigeria, without any prejudice to the issue of power problem in Nigeria, and that’s just the point.
Do you have evidence of such abuses?
I think you should go and ask Customs, if you are asked to bring him knocked down components or semi knocked down components and you are bringing fully built, is that not abuse?
But why didn’t Customs step into it?
Customs is doing their best, and that is why I say you should go and interview Customs they will give you all the information required, and in any case the freight forwarders, the NAGAFF family, the ANCLA family and others handle all their operations. I want a situation where a genuine manufacturer is a member of MAN.
Are you saying that there are no genuine manufacturers in MAN?
I don’t think so, because I can go tomorrow and register in MAN and go to Finance Ministry and get incentives. We see a lot of Chinese doing that.
Some people felt perhaps you are speaking for Customs?
Why must we speak for Customs, are we not Nigerians? We are only speaking from the vantage position of knowledge, eye witness account that’s all.
But your position paper was pro-Customs?
If you come here with that innuendo, that’s is your own business, and if you look at what NAGAFF has written there, they are all verifiable in the sense that you are not a custom officer and they are not custom officer, but they operate in the port, and they present their document through their agents to the customs and we know what we go through.
What are the things you go through?
For instance, the issue of aluminum when its colour and when it is cleared, how will the hydro scanners undertake the one that is yellow and the one that is not, so customs is doing the best they can.
What about other agencies?
Of course they are too; it’s like saying that the Nigeria Police is not doing their best, let them withdraw their services for one day and every one of us will see their impact.
People are doing their best, and we should try to appreciate them and not to continue to condemned, so the earlier we appreciate people the better for all of us.
When issues like this happen, we’ve observed that you always speak for SON, and SON is not the main agency in the port
No I am not; I am speaking from knowledge, saying the truth in any form does not mean you are speaking for anybody, now the SON you are talking about, I am sure you are aware that agencies of the government were exited out of the port to come only on invitation, some of them were asked to have offices within the port city; some nearby, but the practical term is what is going on. With the problem of 43 item delisted from accessing forex, yet these items were not banned, but technically these items are banned because Form M are not being allowed to be registered by those who may have source of foreign exchange to do that.
At that point, what do you expect the customs to do? We are operating destination inspection that’s the regime, and what does destination inspection mean? – it means Customs examination and that will take you to section 27 and 28 of the Customs Exercise Management Act.
So is customs in a position to seize those goods when you have made declaration under the destination inspection? They are not, but you have breached the process of that Form M. So you can see the magnanimity of the customs, because this is a matter that has to do with trade, they go for their revenue and then penalized you.
They cannot come out and say it is seizure, they are not banned, there is no policy that says this cargo is banned and gazzeted, so why do we go the way we are going when we know the right thing to do.
So it’s best we seek for education, because when you don’t know, it’s then you have a problem, right now customs are to invite SON or for SON to indicate interest in a particular product. Now they are not in the port, documentation becomes an issue; now where the documentation is not proper due to false declaration, how will SON now know what it is in the container.
Is there no connectivity to Customs platform for SON?
The connectivity on customs platform does not give some people access, especially on NICISS 2, so they can only issue, and even by the time they do one or two things to the man at the gate, they will be released out of port control.
And the customs are not trained on quality assurance and even when there is no indication that you have an interest in a particular product, customs will go ahead and release it.
Let’s deviate a little bit and talk about the crisis in ANCLA
ANCLA is matured enough to take responsibility on their own, and we are in pain here because NAGAFF as a big organization and ANCLA is a big organization; two of us are supposed to combine efforts to be able to address some of the issues at the port, but its most unfortunate what’s its going on there. But what worries me so much is that some of this ANCLA members have been in this ANCLA thing for the past 40 to 45 years and what are they doing there. At what level did they provide opportunity for the young freight forwarders to be able to do things on their own. I was the first President of NAGAFF about 20 years ago, six years after, I exited, since then we have been grooming people, training them and creating opportunities for the young ones.
Why are these old people still there, what is the particular thing that they are getting out of it, rather than add value to the economy and then create capacity for the young ones that will take over from all of us.
What would you advise as the solution to all of this?
Tony Iju must show leadership; he is the executive President of ANLCA, some people have opportunity but they don’t know how to go about it, you are the executive President of ANCLA what’s your business with issues that have to do with the board of ANCLA, because the board has a limited access to issue of asset and liabilities, they have advisory capacities, you are to run ANLCA’s day-to-day activities.
If you were to be the President of ANCLA today, what will you do?
These things will not even happen, if you look at NAGAFF you don’t try that her; such a thing will never happen in NAGAFF, because NAGAFF is one big family.
Just few days ago I issued a release and I told them (NAGAFF members) that anybody involved in blackmail or gossip have no place in NAGAFF.
Finally, are you satisfied with the CRFFN?
Well, as far as I am concerned, NAGAFF is inside CRFFN and for now have been in touch with the Chairman of CRFFN, and have been advising him telling him to be wary of insider enemies. Whether anybody likes it or not, ANCLA never wanted CRFFN to work, the records are there at the National Assembly, at the public hearing they came there and they said there should be no CRFFN, but rather that there should be Council for Regulation of Licensed Customs Agent. And when they got into the first Council of CRFFN, they started running ANLCA issues in the council, to the extent that they drag CRFFN to become an agency of the government, the CRFFN is not an agency of the government; our matter is coming up in the Appeal Court on this. And you see what happened in the second council, so CRFFN is the baby of NAGAFF and we cannot allow it to die.
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