Mr Segun Alabi is the President of the Advocacy for Maritime Development Association of Nigeria (AMDAN). He is also a member of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents. He recently indicated interest to run for the position of the Assistant National Secretary in the coming elections. In this interview with Oluyinka Onigbinde, he speaks about the industry, his association and the elections
Can you tell us what your advocacy group is all about?
Let me give you a background, because you might not understand where we are coming from. You might not even understand what we have done. Advocacy of Maritime started in 2014/2015. It started as a few friends coming together; promoting some mutual interest. So we took it further and it metamorphosed into a pressure group and an industry forum. In 2018, we got ourselves registered. That was the era of Alhaji Mojeed as the President then. He was the President from inception. In 2019 we deemed it fit to have an election since it is becoming a reality; let us be organized since we have a constitution. We decided to have an election. I came out and contested against him and I won in 2019 and since then I have been on board.
One of the achievements that we have done prior to the time that we came in was that advocacy was less known and one of the things we did was to protect and promote advocacy. When we came in, we did some visitations. Some of your members that were joining our team then went with us to NPA, Shippers Council and others. We were able to get ourselves registered with the Shippers’ Council. We moved into NPA, then Koko (MD of NPA) just came in. If not for the political problems that we have internally, we would have gone far. This year, we’ve done next to nothing and last year was very tough for us because of the infighting of the leadership of ANLCA; Tin Can Chapter especially. So that has slowed us down because we were taking our time ensuring that the warring factions are settled. But so far, what we have done in the last few years that we came in is that we have been able to promote ANLCA and to ensure that we are known in the maritime industry.
Will you attribute the infighting in ANLCA as the reason your pressure group has been unpopular for some few years now?
Well, I wouldn’t say so, but it depends. When you say unpopular, even in the industry, if you go to a NPA, NIMASA or Shippers’ Council, they would not say they don’t know Advocacy Group. When you say unpopular, that is relative. You might not be as popular as ANLCA. Remember ANLCA has been in existence before I was born. So you cannot compare the pedigree of ANLCA with advocacy. But at least in our own little way, that is our focus for now, to project it and to ensure that we are known within the maritime industry. Like I said, we are an industry club and a pressure group. We are not there to rival any association. We are on our own. The pre-requisite to join Advocacy is that you must be a member of ANLCA.
So many things have gone wrong in the industry that many people believe that a pressure group like yours should have issued a statement or taken a stand. Is it that the imbroglio in the association slowed down the capacity of the group?
That contributed to it, and in a way you are correct. Like I said, ANLCA is like a big house and they don’t want to be seen as working at variance with ANLCA. Speaking on some of the issues that you mentioned such as the VIN valuation and the rest, we’ve issued some statements especially on the VIN issues. The way ANLCA has handled it, we are actually supporting them in a way because like I said we don’t want to be seen as going against the association. Mind you, in my capacity as the President, I was the Secretary of the then ASECO, I was working for the National office. So we were working together. We might not be issuing statements in virtually all the issues raised, but at least we are working underground.
What is your take about the Customs Modernization Project?
We live in a global village and of course it is only a foolish person that will not embrace the global movement. There is always synergy everywhere. The Chinese are partnering with the Americans, the UK is partnering with India. You can partner. But when it bothers on security, or areas where we lose our best hands that is going to take jobs away from our people. What does the Chinese have to offer? We have one of the best brains when it comes to technology in this country. We have seen many Nigerians go to the UK and they are performing well. You know the Nigerian system, we would want to bring in somebody in the name of technology. I think the project is a scam. What we should be concerned about is the effect of that, which means jobs will be lost. What happened to our own IT Consultants or indigenous people? There is nothing the Chinese can offer that we cannot offer in Nigeria. We are now assembling telephones. There is no big deal.
What is your take on the issue of the Electronic Cargo Tracking Note?
That is one challenge we face in Nigeria, we are not consistent with policies. There’s nothing wrong with Cargo Tracking Note. Once upon a time in this country, that should be about 10 years ago, they brought the Cargo Tracking Note via the NPA. Let’s x-ray it, what is the purpose? It is only in this country that I know that if a policy is introduced, it is for financial or monetary gain. Between you and I, what is the purpose of Cargo Tracking Note? We have tried pre-inspection and destination inspection, what is the purpose? So I see all these things as a way of distraction and monetary gains. There’s nothing spectacular about it. There was a time the Central Bank was talking about e-invoicing. Then what is the role of Customs if the Federal Ministry of Finance is now putting themselves in that position? So somebody is trying to take another person’s job. The other time we were talking about the scanners in our ports. Why did they take it away from the inspection agents? The inspection agents were doing it very well. They were performing and delivering until someone saw the amount of money they were making, so Customs had to take it over. They took it up but they cannot manage it today. Go to Apapa and check the crowd, they cannot manage the scanners. Everybody is facing a direction where they think the money is. The same thing applies to the Cargo Tracking Note. For me, it is baseless and it does not add value. There is no value to it.
How will you describe an ANLCA in the last four years?
This is a very tough one for me to X-ray. ANLCA has gone through a lot in the last four years and I think that it is because of the in-fighting in the association. I just left a meeting and when we were doing some analysis, we observed that the team that we have there currently as NECOM would have been the best team and broken more grounds than what they have achieved now if we are still together and there is no in-fighting. There have been a lot of distractions and those distractions have greatly affected their performance in a way. But despite that, you know when you’re going to court regularly and you still have clearing and freight forwarding jobs to do, if you spend 90 percent of your time going to Court, will you have time to face the core job? And I think that is what is happening in the present NECOM. The team of Tony Iju, Farinto and Mukaila is a wonderful and brilliant team. It would have been wonderful but the fight at the top; that is the BoT really affected them. So they have not been able to perform optimally. But to the best of their ability, they have tried at least to keep the sanctity together and to ensure that ANLCA is still reckoned with.
Under this situation, why are you vying for the position of the Assistant General Secretary?
Many years ago, I was sitting in the office like this and a particular importer I had an issue with said to me, that the issue we were discussing was a Custom matter. I went to the then DC of CPC in Tin Can Island Port, that was DC Ogunojemite to resolve the matter which was a very serious one. He told me my facts were correct, but I cannot fight it as an individual and I went away sad. I related that to my importer and he asked if we have an association. He asked me to go and report to that association but unfortunately I told him I am not a member yet because I had not registered. That was many years ago. It was the importer that was now talking to me that matters like this cannot be tackled by an individual. He asked me to report it as a group or association; saying until then before we can fight it. My mentor then; Eniola Igbaroola came to drag and persuade me in my office to join the association and so I joined. That was the beginning.
So, I decided to join and I was watching them from afar and I attended their meetings. I joined a group of people called ‘Progressive Meeting’ at Tin Can Island. I was contributing in terms of discourse and ideas and they found some of my ideas very interesting. The then-Leader of the group was Prince Ozo Chukurah together with a host of other members. I was later told that they have penciled me down for the new dispensation to serve in the ASECO. Before the end of that tenure, my name was mentioned as one of the members of ASECO. So I joined ASECO and was working with them. Few years later, I was made the substantive secretary of ASECO. Before then, there was an interim government in Tin Can where I worked as the PRO while we were having those meetings. It was Eniola Igbaroola that nominated me. He was the Western zonal secretary then. That is just a background so that you will understand where I’m coming from.
There is a Yoruba proverb that says “If you are outside, and they are sharing something inside, you can not question how it is shared”. You have to be where they are discussing it. That is just an analogy. You cannot shout because you are not part of the discuss. So for me to be part, I have decided to come in for the position of the Assistant National Secretary. In my own little way, I have served as the Secretary of ASECO. Let me come a little bit on board where decisions are being made and harmonized. Let me contribute my own quota in my little way and learn. That is one thing with me. I want to learn from people who have been there, because there’s no way you can know it all. You need to go through school. That is why they require experience in some of the jobs. I have gathered experience as an ASECO member and a considerable experience as the Secretary. But on this level, I want to learn more and contribute my own quota to the development of ANLCA.
In specific terms, why should members vote for you?
I have a quality background in Management. I studied Business Administration and Management and I have an MBA. I have a Diploma in Freight Forwarding, and I am a member of notable Chambers of Commerce. I have served in most of these committees. I am a member of the American Chamber of Commerce and served in the committee of international relations. I am also a member of Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and the British Chamber of Commerce. I served on the board of the Exports committee. So these are areas where I think ANLCA would need the little experience I have gathered in those areas. Like I said earlier, it is not about you knowing it all. It is about having an idea of how things run and bringing in this expertise. Even in my private business, I have arranged myself. It is not poorly managed so we want to bring all those experiences to bear here, contribute our quota, and at the same time learn to listen to others. That is key to us. That is why I am not applying for the position of the vice President. These are areas that informed my decisions.
Presently, we have two presidential candidates. Which of them are you canvassing for?
I am supporting Dr Kayode Farinto of course. For me, he is a quality leader, with all due respect to the other presidential candidate; Chief Emenike. Of course I know him, but fairly, and that was the reason I’m not fraternizing with him. I don’t know his competence. I have not worked with him before. But for Dr Farinto, I have worked with him closely from where I was at Tin Can Chapter. Then he was the National Publicity Secretary. Even when we were in ASECO, I worked closely with him. I have known his quality. He is a man of quality ideas. Some of the ideas he has are out of this world. He has a fantastic mission and vision for ANLCA. He is someone that if you sit down with him for five minutes, you will be loaded. So for that reason, that is the man I am voting for.
Do you think after this election, ANLCA can still become one big family?
Sure, if you have been following the trend, ANLCA had an AGM at Eko Hotel sometime around March with the Board of Trustees and it was wonderful. That was the beginning of the reconciliation. I think having four members each from both sides of the BoT is a perfect combination. For me, that is key. That is one of the reasons I decided to jump into this boat because when there is in-fighting and in the recent times you see that people are coming together, that is a good development. We can see someone like Taiye Oyeniyi stepping down and clamoring for peace. For me, that is a plus and a sign of good things to come. So I have no doubt in my mind that in this new dispensation, it is going to be a win-win thing for everybody and genuine peace will reign in ANLCA.
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