Freight forwarders have been advised to be conscious of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and take responsibility for their safety, especially at the re-opened land borders.
The advice was given by the National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Mr Tony Nwabunike, in a statement that was issued on Friday to mark the New Year celebrations.
The ANLCA president also lauded the Customs brokers for their collective resilience in keeping the entire logistics chain functional during the periods of lockdown and movement restrictions.
He said, “as we enter the new year, 2021 we must not lose our guards – A second wave of COVID-19 has been identified and detected. It has become imperative that we continue to take responsibility and act in line with clearly spelt out guidelines.
“Our colleagues at all recently reopened land borders who were not at work last year due to border closure are advised to take a cue from Customs brokers and freight forwarders at the sea and airports.
“Taking responsibility is aimed at keeping ourselves safe and avoiding the spread of the disease to our loved ones at home and the larger society.”
Nwabunike also said the association was interfacing with the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Industry on the need for a special loan scheme to help logistics firms in expanding and maintaining a fleet of heavy-duty and lighter vehicles required beyond the coverage of train services.
He tasked clearing agents to strengthen the chords of e-commerce by adapting to new ways of doing things, part of which involved e-commerce, online transactions, virtual meetings and deploying Internet of Things to productive use.
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