Joshua Yousouph
Dr. Eugene Nweke, a former President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), has called for the merging of freight forwarding groups in Nigeria, citing present issues and crises in the industry.
Speaking exclusively with Shipping Position Daily, Dr. Nweke noted that the best advocacy freight forwarding associations can employ to effectively tackle the challenges in the freight forwarding sector is to unite as a single amalgamated National association.
While alleging inefficiency on the part of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Nweke stressed that it is the associations that are expected to be registered in the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association (FIATA).
The former NAGAFF boss said the CRFFN is only peculiar to Nigeria as other African countries do not have a Council but an Institute. However, he said if the unionization is achieved, there will be no need for CRFFN to be registered with FIATA but rather a single amalgamated freight forwarding association.
He canvassed that freight forwarders should come together under a unified body of associations to discuss their problems, reach agreements and issue policy statements for the development of the industry.
In his words: “We must understand the concept of unionism. We must also understand the concept of collectivism and what a professional association is all about. They sound the same but they are not the same thing. With what is happening in the port today, the best advocacy we can do is to unionize ourselves. This is because the regulatory council that is supposed to give direction is not effective. So the best thing associations can do is to unionize themselves.
“One of the critical reasons the governing council and the industry is going the way it is going, beyond the issue of criticizing the governing council, there is a regulation that we have submitted that has not gone through the National Assembly for gazette. If we have gotten that, by now, it will be a different ball game. “The proposed 2012 regulation is the amalgamation of all the accredited association and any other association that have gone through the screening of CRFFN, but not accredited; coming together and it is that amalgamation that we registered in FIATA. It is associations that we registered in FIATA, not the Council.
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“The CRFFN is only unique in Nigeria, Ghana doesn’t have a council. What they have is an institute. Most other countries in Africa actually deal with a National association and the only way we can evolve into a National Association is by coming together using the policy drive of the regulatory council, which is what we have done”.
“Hakeem Olarenwaju (former CRFFN chairman) was to sign that when we came back from the Senate, so by now, we should be talking about the amalgamation of all freight forwarding associations, then we will go and remove the name of CRFFN from FIATA. After doing that, when we meet in our freight Forwarder Consultative Council to discuss our problems where every actor is involved and we make a policy statement, we would have our respect. But if we continue to allow CRFFN to represent us at FIATA, how many of us in Nigeria still go for the regional conference of FIATA? We have just only a few individuals.”.
The freight forwarding sector is a dynamic environment where changes are coming either in shipping or terminal operating models, design, the product itself having different design and packaging, yet all must go through the process of Customs classification” Nweke concluded.
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