The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) is set to certify over 400 freight forwarding practitioners that graduated from accredited tertiary institutions in the six geo political zones of the country.
Speaking at a press briefing ahead of the graduation ceremony on Tuesday, the Registrar of the Council, Mr Samuel Nwakohu said the maiden graduation ceremony, which will take place at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Saturday, will have the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, inducting the graduates from tertiary institutions across the geopolitical zones of the country into the business of freight forwarding and supply chain management.
He informed that the training programme is in line with section 4 of the CRFFN Act which provides for the training and equipping of freight forwarders with the right tools and knowledge to meet international best practices as regards trade facilitation.
Nwakohu said the Federal Government had mandated that freight forwarding business should be regulated by the CRFFN, owing to the importance of freight forwarding to the nation’s and global economy
“Quite a number of the freight forwarders have been trained, they have graduated from certificate to diploma and higher diploma.
“It is common knowledge that freight forwarders are people that involve in clearing and forwarding which is the traditional name, but what we call them today are freight forwarders and supply chain managers.
“It is also common knowledge that in our country, it is an activity or job for all comers, as a means of livelihood but government said no, that freight forwarding and supply chain management are necessary in the growth of our economy,” he said.
He added that the graduands comprise of those who had undergone training in Certificate, National Diploma and Higher National Diploma in Freight Forwarding and Supply Chain Management, who finished their courses since 2012 till date.
The registrar reinstated that the deadline for anyone practicing freight forwarding and supply chain management to meet the minimum academic qualifications required to practice the trade remains December 2021.
He noted that anyone who does not have academic qualification after the deadline may be stopped from practicing, while the council would have their names removed from the register of freight forwarders in the country.
Nwakohu added that with the requisite education in freight forwarding and supply chain management, the council will help build capacity in line with international standards,” he said.
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He said that there was no going back on the December deadline.
“As regards timeline to ensure that freight forwarders get these requirements, we made a pronouncement sometime in 2020 that it will be December this year.
“If the freight forwarders don’t meet the minimum qualification, as prescribed by CRFFN, we will stop them from practicing and knock them off the register, and anyone that continues to practice, does so illegally.
“This pronouncement was said last year and most people that will be graduating soon had finished since 2012, and 2013, so the training had started even before the deadline, it behoves on others to take advantage of it,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director for Education and Training, CRFFN, Mr Alban Igwe noted that freight forwarding business is not an all-comers affairs, but an international business, adding that most freight forwarders don’t know much about digitalization of the freight forwarding business
“You find out that most freight forwarders don’t know digitalisation, our clearing processes have question mark and Nigeria is less competitive globally.
“We need to empower people to facilitate trade in order to impact the economy and we want to change the narrative through those academic qualifications, if we empower the people it impacts on the economy”, he said.
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