In this interview, the President, Nigeria Institute of Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers (NIFFCB); Dr. Zebulon Ikokide spoke about the institute and controversies surrounding the practice of freight forwarding and customs brokerage. He also told our correspondent; Roland Ekama what can be done to revitalise the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), as well as other sundry issues
It appears like the Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarding and Customs Brokers is not performing as expected considering the fact that it’s the training arm of the CRFFN, what is responsible for this?
Really, the institute has been bedevilled with paucity of funds to operate and we were thinking that CRFFN which is supervising the institute would be able to assist us with funds to work with, but on their part, they have been complaining that there is no fund in place and that the government is not making money available for them to work. Even CRFFN is not vibrant as it used to be about three years ago when we were even in the council and coupled with the fact that (members of the institute, because of the economic crunch) are not paying their dues as members and of course students are not coming forward to study because most times they say there is no money to pay even when we cut down the cost of study, nobody has shown interest, even at the rate of N35,000. CRFFN to an extent took part of the responsibilities to encourage students yet we are not able to see any student coming forward to register. There is Redeemers University in place that is also involve in running the course at NAGAFF village, yet people are not turning up because I am a facilitator in that project as well; therefore I think that is some of the reasons behind the setback being faced by the NIFFCB.
CRFFN has been silent for a very long time what can be done to revitalise the Council for it execute its mandate as a regulatory agency of government?
The only way the CRFFN can bounce back is through budgetary allocation and since the federal government is talking about cutting down cost, then there is the need for the council to commence collection of practising fees; known as POF from the port practitioners, then it will go a long way to revive the council's activities but there is a lot of politics inherent in that process which is not too good for the council to perform effectively. The council is to oversee the development of freight forwarding practice and at the moment it’s not functioning and I believe it is not very good, at least if there are funds to work with then I believe it will go a long way. For example Shippers Council doesn’t collect another subvention from anywhere, but it is the budget they get from the government that has empowered their operations. So, if something can be done by government to assist CRFFN, it will further add value to its operations. If you recall the first two years of the council's existence were excellent because fund was at their disposal. The council made a mark then but it was when funds started suppressing it that it became a problem. I feel if government can make a way for fund to be available, I believe CRFFN will work properly and of course the institute that is the training arm will also work effectively.
What is your reaction to the recent statement credited to the CG of Customs urging that all associations should go back to the mother association which many suggest is ANLCA?
You know that the CG of Customs is a retired military man and now a politician; he does not really have the knowledge of the industry. What the associations need to do at the moment is to strengthen the CRFFN which is a council that has the backing of the law to function especially in the maritime sector. If that is done, every association that are under the council will follow suit. The associations that are registered with the council are five, but you may have more than that but once you are not recognised by law, then those ones are nowhere except the council gives such rooms to register more. Again there are rules and regulations on how an association can register with CRFFN. However, nobody should be thinking about association at the moment rather they should be thinking of how to strengthen the CRFFN for it to work effectively on freight forwarding regulations and that is what we need. If that is done, every other thing will take shape because the associations have the crowds and all these associations are supposed to register with CRFFN; therefore there is no need to fight one another over supremacy of who is a freight forwarder and who is customs broker. What the CGC had said does not hold water; rather attention must be focused on the Council which is backed by law. What the customs boss said is no big deal. The real issue at hand is how CRFFN can bounce back and perform better than before and once the Council is doing well, then all other associations will line up behind it and follow its directives. Therefore, whoever it maybe will have no option but to submit to the directives of CRFFN. However, going to mother association as CG said is not an issue that any association must take too serious.
The minister has given directive to freight forwarding practitioners in the sub sector to register with the CRFFN or face sanction, but up till this moment no success has been achieved. What is your view about that directive?
You know that the ministry of transportation is not the sole authority on that issue, even though CRFFN is an agency of that ministry. As it is, the maritime industry has a lot to do with the Customs and it is under the Ministry of Finance, we also have ministry of trade and investment as a stakeholder in the industry as well. However his statement alone is impossible to achieve anything, without input from other ministries that I have enlisted. It’s a welcome development no doubt but he needs to bring on board those other ministries as well for them to agree with that directive and I believe that there are internal discussions on how it is going to work out for the betterment of the council and the industry in general. Especially where customs will not register or license anybody unless they get approval from CRFFN, knowing full well that the customs has been a major determinant on all customs brokers and if they all agreed upon the issue then we are making progress.
Considering the number of years you have served as the President of NIFFCB, what are the qualities would you love to see in your successor?
Anybody that will succeed me as president of NIFFCB must be educated because the institute cannot be seen as an association. He must also have the interest of the institute and the maritime industry at heart, he must be passionate too. He must be able to distinguish between running an association and an institution. Personally, I have been scouting for a replacement because I want to retire and be a consultant to educational institutions in order to impart knowledge to people instead of running round and round. Really I'm yet to see that type of person that would replace me, who would dedicate his life to educate people in respect to the maritime sector and as soon as we find such a person I will personally ask that individual to hold sway. Again, the same individual must be financially buoyant and viable because when I started taking care of the institute, I was still working then, not retired; I use to take responsibility of so many bills ; especially the staff salary. Personally, I pay the staff salary from my own purse because it is the best way to encourage those who work with you. Presently we have about three staff and they must be motivated. That was one of the reasons Mr. Ademola Irinyemi had to go to Redeemers University as a lecturer. I will need somebody that has financial capability to succeed me as President in order to review NIFFCB.
Is it proper to say that since Mr. Ademola Irinyemi left as registrar of NIFFCB no other registrar has been able to measure up?
Just like I said earlier, you must have the interest of the maritime sector at heart. If you come to the institute and what you are concerned about is money, you may not last long here and if the person is a workaholic without money then you will feel discouraged. When Irinyemi left us, the first person we employed wanted us to commit some funds to him and we said we cannot do that because we don't have such at our disposal and someone else came and wanted to hijack the NIFFCB, he was acting to take control of everything, he worked as if he is the registrar of CRFFN and we said no, this is not how it is done here. But the new person that is there now is an educationist par excellence, but the problem at the moment is the fund because if there is no fund in place, he cannot do magic and for me I have known him way back in LASU and he was even a former staff of that same school before. So generally I think funding is the key issue why some of them have not been able to perform.
Is there any constitution backing NIFFCB and the tenure of the President?
No. Actually, our memorandum or article of association states two years per tenure. But we find out that it is not possible to change leadership under two years considering the fact that it is an educational institution and nobody is paying us salary for what we are doing, that is why we don't change leadership like that. That is why we removed that aspect by running that position continuously until we grow to some certain level like ICAN, then we can stick to the two years tenure putting into consideration that there will be available resources to sustain that position. At the moment, there is nobody that I can hand over the leadership of the institute to.
What would you say are your achievements in the last six years as President of NIFFCB?
There is awareness now for the study of freight forwarding in the maritime sector, because when I came in, there was not like that. What was popular then was clearing and forwarding which is not accepted anyway in the world. The job is freight forwarding and not clearing and forwarding; the job is a respected profession all over the world. We actually started the campaign in order to remove ourselves from the toga of clearing and forwarding. All over the world it is only in Nigeria people call themselves clearing and forwarding agents. Outside Nigeria the word clearing and forwarding is not acceptable and as we speak almost everybody in sub sector and even Nigeria as a whole understands freight forwarding practice and I am happy that I am one of the crusaders of that change because NIFFCB was the one that brought that concept to stay by trying to educate people. People now understand that freight forwarding practice is a profession and I can say that it is an achievement because presently there is a course called freight forwarding in universities since the CRFFN has come to stay and people are embracing the course and I am happy that I am among the first people that have been advocating this and of course if you can recall that even before the CRFFN came up it is the institute that brought the bill to the National Assembly and the Nigeria Shippers Council played a very big role. Barrister Hassan Bello was so instrumental because he was the legal adviser to the Council under the leadership of Chief Adebayo Sarumi. There is no way they will talk about how CRFFN come on board without mentioning Dr. Ikokide. That alone is my happiness.
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