ANLCA IS FAST LOSING RELEVANCE

Although, there may not be accurate records as to when it was actually founded, there is no doubt about the fact that the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) is the oldest umbrella body for licensed customs agents in Nigeria.

Although, Dr Rafiu Oladipo (presently of the Nigerian football supporters’ club) is reputed to be the first ‘documented’ president of ANLCA, older generation members of the association also say that there was  an interregnum for some years before Alhaji Sani Kamba stepped in to become the national president of a new look association. 

Alhaji Kamba’s tenure was followed by that of Mr Peter Okocha, Aare Sanni Shittu, Alhaji Inua Mohammed and Chief Ernest Elochukwu as national presidents.

While Alhaji Kamba’s tenure remains the relatively longest, others did not have that grace as they were either overwhelmed by intrigues and forces and were subsequently swept away by the politics of the association or had a little stint as either a caretaker committee head or came in to fill a vacuum. 

Maritime industry players will also remember how Alhaji Kamba’s  image loomed so large in the industry so much so that ANLCA under his watch determined the fate of so many things; especially issues that concern the practice of clearing and associated matters.  

All that changed after the infamous non-Import Duty Report (IDR) saga of 1995 which led to the revocation of operating licenses of virtually all registered customs agents for alleged complicity in the clearance of questionable imports and evasion of import duty.

This development led to the emergence of the first rival body within the fold of licensed customs agents. The birth of the Mr Lucky Amiwero’s National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents took the shine off, and diminished the influence of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents.

And as if that was not enough, Dr Boniface Aniebonam stepped down as ANLCA’s chairman of customs agents’ relations committee to found the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) and with this, the journey to irrelevance for ANLCA began. The battle to regain its lost glory took the better part of the short-lived tenure of Mr Peter Okocha, while the duo of Aare Sanni Shittu and Alhaji Inua Mohammed tried unsuccessfully to ‘repackage’ the association.

It was not until Chief Ernest Elochukwu came on board that expectations became high that perhaps the association would begin its image cleansing drive and the match towards recognition again.

This takes us to the current situation in ANLCA where serious issues bordering on tribal sentiments, ambition, suspicion and political mudslinging are almost killing the association. 

Of these issues, the emergence of tribal inclinations may well be the greatest undoing of the association with the tendency to push it down the cliff; probably into oblivion.

Some people have argued that since the exit of Alhaji Kamba, the association has not been fortunate to have a purposeful, goal driven and altruistic leadership. To these people, successive leadership have always looked at the office as a means to their self-serving end and not a means to a new lease of life for ANLCA. Others have also pontificated that the problems of the association stemmed from the loss of its unrivalled status as the only voice of several licensed customs agents. To these people, the emergence of NAGAFF and Council of Managing Directors, coupled with the type of leadership that has been foisted upon ANLCA are the contributory factors to its present state of near-irrelevance.

The current crisis has been made worse by the allegation that the board of trustees which is led by Chief Henry Njoku is reluctant to enthrone a democratically elected leadership at both the chapters and national levels; hence the polarisation of the association into different factions and interests.

The board which has tactically metamorphosed to a caretaker committee and most importantly, chief Njoku should act the statesman and be guided by the constitution, knowing that any interregnum in the name of either board of trustees or a caretaker committee remain an aberration and not substitute for a democratically elected leadership in ANLCA.
 We hear that he is staying for too long and getting used to the attraction of office and to this we can only advise that if he so cherishes lucre of office, he should contest elections into the office of national president.

However, the recent peace meeting which held in Lagos is a right move and we advice that the resolutions that were reached at the meeting should be adhered to and actualised.