Those who can remember will attest to the fact that the emergence of the Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents is traceable to the controversies which trailed the infamous non-Import Duty Report (IDR) scam of 1995 and which led to the mass loss of operational licenses of customs agents who were at that time, all members of the only association which was in existence; that is, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA).
With the Federal Government-induced probe of loss of revenue in the non-IDR scam and the subsequent crisis, the Council of Managing Directors (as it is commonly called), then became the rallying point for all licensed customs agents who desperately needed a platform and who were getting agitated by the perceived failure of (the Alhaji Sani Kamba-led) ANLCA to meet their emerging needs. It was a child of circumstances; of sort.
Alhaji Sani Kamba and his executives later fought and regained some of the licenses and eventually re-branded ANLCA, but Mr Amiwero was not ready to liquidate his empire and return to being an ANLCA chieftain. He was actually its national public relations officer.
Amiwero immediately deployed his assets as a former image maker of ANLCA and immediately became a toast of stakeholders; especially, the media which sought him out for his opinion which had become indispensable. With that, came awards and recognitions by the federal government which appointed him to serve on many committees.
The rest is history, as events later took a new dimension and 13 years down the line, he was to be upstaged, following an induced allegation that he had perpetuated himself in office. A group of licensed customs agents who claimed to be concerned members claimed to have removed him from office under very controversial circumstances.
His travails did not end there as he was to be hounded into Kirikiri prison where he spent a whole week, because he could not meet the bail conditions.
Since, then, (and even before then) the battle has been fought on two fronts; namely, between Lucky Amiwero versus those who want to oust him from the presidency of his association and also between him and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN). His battle with the CRFFN emerged from his failure to secure a seat in the governing council. He took the CRFNN to court and joined certain individuals as defendants; including the minister of transport and the executive secretary of the Nigeria Shippers’ Council. That move created more enemies for him and gave his traducers the much-needed opportunity to further strategise.
The battle with CRFFN came to a head about two weeks ago when the CRFFN refused to register the Council of Managing Directors, even though its chairman, Mr Tony Nwabunike admitted that the association scored 100 per cent in the appraisal. According to the CRFFN chairman, the association failed to scale the registration hurdles because of the litigations; even though he failed to give details. He also added that the association failed because some of is members are actually not chief executives of companies.
The denial of registration to the Council of Managing Directors has brought some issues and we think that it behoves on the CRFFN to ensure that it is neither accused nor found guilty of double standard in the unfolding drama. First, the CRFFN may be accused of using the crises to deny the Council of Managing Directors the much-merited registration.
The fact that CRFFN actually received application from another leadership of the association rather that the one headed by Mr Amiwero is tantamount to giving an edge to the group that is opposed to Amiwero’s continued leadership, only to turn around and use it against the association. The second issue is the need for clarification on the chairman’s explanation that the association was denied registration because of pending litigations. The question is: which litigations, is it the one involving Amiwero and CRFFN or the one between Amiwero and CRFFN and others.
From the standpoint of law, we think that the CRFFN was wrong to have even considered any application from the Council of Managing Directors; knowing that it is fractionized at the moment.
It seems to us that the CRFFN’s judgement was biased and tainted with vindictiveness which is informed by the insistence of Mr Amiwero to pursue the legal battle to the last point.
It is also pertinent to counsel that the governing council of CRFFN should be a father to all freight forwarders and freight forwarding interests, rather than appear to be tilting towards partisanship. We also acknowledge that the CRFFN may be at a crossroad as to which faction to recognise. In that wise, the best option would have been to await the outcome of the legal battle.
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