Oladipo Bolade (Clearing agent)
After the Act which established the Council, there is need for a strong foundation, they have to start from somewhere and foundation may take longer time than what we are expecting, if you don’t get it right from the beginning there is every tendency that you may not get it right for long. Generally we can see now that they are trying and one of these is the on-going registration of freight forwarder, by the time its concluded everyone of us can now contribute our own quota towards the development of the industry. I am okay with the way they are doing so far; they just needed to get it right from the beginning.
Mazi Joseph Anabaraonye (Registrar, FFAN)
For now, I can say that the Council is on course and so far it is doing the right thing, as far as that is being done there will be less agitation. You know that nothing can be too perfect in the beginning, but for now I can give them a pass mark; especially on registration and the reform of the freight forwarding practice which will eventually be better for the industry. But if they make it an all- comers affair, then it will be like putting an old wine in a new bottle, as a result we may not get the expected result, it means that it’s going to be business as usual and if this happens it will take us some steps backwards and it might take us another long time to address it.
But so far, I think they are doing their best and today we are happy that people are beginning to register on line, and the council is doing a lot of publicity to make sure that nobody will come and say they didn’t get the form. It is also paramount for those who have been in the industry for a long time and have refused to upgrade themselves to now know that it’s no longer going to be business as usual and they must now go back to school.
Danjuma Imoudu (Asst. Sec. Gen. ANLCA, Apapa)
In the beginning, I know people are bound top make a lot of mistakes and later correct them, so whatever the council has been doing before now I will consider it as laying a foundation, for now I would not say that they are not doing badly, so overall I think they have tried. The registration exercise is a welcome move, it is the right thing to do in the sense that all professions are being regulated by a body and it is a good thing for us to also have a body to regulate our profession. My advice to the council is to be very firm and make sure that things are done transparently, another thing is that they are doing the registration on line and you know due to the nature of our job, we are busy people so they should try and look at the time given and try to extend it in order to really accommodate every body.
Alhaji Lamin Aliyu (ANLCA, PTML)
The council has been sleeping before but it is very good now since they have woken up from their slumber to correct the wrongs in the profession in terms of proliferation, and since the council is now set to bring integrity to our profession, it is a welcome development. All they need to do now is to make sure that everybody is carried along accordingly.
Alhaji Abdulakeem Akanji (Mikkol Maritime services ltd)
I believe the council is created to sanitize the freight forwarding industry and they are just starting, therefore we still need to give them more room to operate before we can start to rate their performance, but so far I don’t think they are doing badly. One other thing they need to consider however is the issue of publicity, they need to carry people along through awareness programmes because some agents have still not heard about their activities probably because they have not been acting on the laws establishing them, but I understand that they were in Kano for a sensitization and awareness programme on what the council stands for, this its good so they should just try and improve upon it.
Olumide Ogunbiyi (Clearing Agent)
I think the CRFFN has done well, I am totally satisfied but, there is still much room for improvement in her deals with freight forwarders or clearing agents as the case maybe. As far as relationship with association is concerned, I can only speak of that which I know, the relationship is developing but its on snail speed, there is need for NAGAFF and the Council of Managing Directors to be part of the council so that it can be on record that it is relating well with associations.
Finally, as regards the online registration that is on going, I think the server needs to be worked upon because the access is very slow, its takes lot of time to get registered, but the form and website is okay. CRFFN has done well, and should be encouraged by every freight forwarders and clearing agent, because a time will come when we will all be associated with this body.
Uche Increase (Pub. Sec. NAGAFF)
I rate the council above average in what we have seen so far, though the issue of registration is long over due, the only problem is that people find it difficult accessing their website, the reason maybe due to traffic online or poor server.
Personally, I wish to commend them; the way the design of the form is done is simple and direct with not too much question. I believe the council is treating all associations equally, the registration is done individually and through companies, I don’t believe there are problems, the treatment given to everyone is fair.
Barr. Fred Akokhia (NAGAFF)
It’s not a question of been satisfactory, it’s a question of been on the right part, and they are on the right part. The Act says they should register members and they are doing that. We share ideas and work as a team and advise them, and they listen. The only problem we have with them is that the council is not complete without some key associations, and the chairman of the council has assured us that the council would look into the situation. We are okay with the activities of the council.
Akanni Balogun (clearing Agent)
The CRFFN is relating very well with every association, if the registration process is completed and collated well enough, it’s a plus to the freight forwarding/clearing agents’ profession in general, because it will get to a time as stated in the Act that those not fully registered with the council will not be recognized.
I am very much satisfied with their mode of operations and I think they should be supported in all spheres by all freight forwarding associations irrespective of the association an agent belongs to. Also, the forum that was organized by the council is a very good initiative.
Uche Nwabude (Interim Chair, NAGAFF, Tin Can)
The council has done well so far, the way they are conducting their affairs is okay, and in terms of percentage, I will rate them as high as 72percent. Their relationship with associations is not biased in anyway, they treat all associations equally and that I believe is how it should be done. The present online registration of freight forwarders, and freight companies is a good initiative as said in the Act , however, the process should be improved upon, because at times people have difficulties gaining access due to traffic, may be technical advises can be taken on how to tackle traffic on their site. The forums held so far is a plus to the council and on a final note, I believe they can do better, because there is always a room for improvement in every endeavour.
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