The National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agent, (ANLCA) Prince Olayiwola Shittu last weekend declared that the hitherto frosty relationship between his association and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has been normalised.
In a veiled reference to end of hostilities, he told a gathering of both associations during his visit to NAGAFF headquarters in Apapa on Friday that, it is only those who have personal animosity that will keep fighting even “when the war is over”.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that, there has been no love lost between the two associations, since NAGAFF founder; Dr Boniface Aniebonam led some ANLCA members to for NAGAFF more than 15 years ago.
The ANLCA President confirmed that the move to reunite the two associations started about seven years ago during the tenure of the former president of NAGAFF; Chief Eugene Nweke, he added that the move failed because “people’s minds were greatly polluted about the initiative”.
“What we are celebrating here today should have been done in 2010. This initiative has been on during the time of the former president of NAGAAF, Dr Eugene Nweke, but people’s minds were poisoned. I was called names and there was war in ANLCA. It is only those who have personal animosity that will keep fighting when the war is over. Rather than fighting we have decided to come together as one. It is the war between ANLCA and NAGAFF that made government to hijack Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and turn it into revenue generating agency”, he said.
Speaking further he said, “This is the first time ANLCA and NAGAFF have decided to speak with one voice and withdraw their services at the ports and it worked out well. I am urging you all to use what you have to get something. I have the constitutional power to protect the interest of the majority of ANLCA members. I have one year left to my tenure and I am ready to sustain this initiative to the extent that my successor can’t stop it. There is need for us to sustain a legacy and I am advising the new president of NAGAFF to learn the ropes quickly because there is no room for mediocre here”.
Meanwhile the Acting President of NAGAFF, Chief Increase Uche, has said the birth of the initiative is divine as it is an indication of new things to come to the association even as he urged freight forwarding groups to key into the categorization directives of the CRFFN.
“The expectation at the moment is that there should be re-alignment of forces among the associations to achieve the objectives of the council. Without prejudice to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria it shall be reasonable and responsible that every licensed customs agents associations should collapse voluntarily to ANLCA and wherein small group freight forwarding associations should collapse into NAGAFF. The good thing is that the truckers have started talking to each other with a view of realigning forces” he concluded.
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