A pressure group in the maritime sector; the Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNIFFIEC) has called on the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to put all freight forwarding associations under one umbrella and revoke the licenses given to the various associations.
The association advocated that associations such as: the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) among others should be scrapped and be merged into one single body.
National Coordinator of the group; Chief Osita Patrick Chukwu told Shipping Position Daily that the associations are the major cause of the problems confronting the maritime industry presently and also the major reason the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has been incapacitated.
Osita blasted Chief Boniface Aniebonam, founder of NAGAFF, for allegedly trying to usurp the role of the Maritime Advocacy and Action Group (MAAG) by forming a group called Concerned Accredited Freight Forwarders Association (CAFFA).
Osita advised that: "We should have just one association and form a golden voice, this has been the problem we are having in the industry, we want Buhari to come and fine-tune all these issues, he should revoke all this nonsense and whatever certificated they have been given if they can not agree to speak in one voice"
"Each association should bring one credible candidate which will in turn form the centre and from where a leader will be chosen" he suggested.
He alleged that when the MAAG was first floated, it was moving on fine, until the customs used the big associations like NAGAFF, ANLCA) to destabilize MAAG.
"When we started MAAG, it was moving very fine until they scattered it, now Alhaji Dantata is nowhere to be found again"
"The reason why ANLCA is currently kicking against the CRFFN fees collection is because the percentage they were given cannot be compared to what they are collecting now; greed is their major problem as well as showing of superiority", he stated.
Taking a swipe at NAGAFF and the new group, he said that the main stakeholders were not carried along by Dr. Aniebonam in his meetings and therefore it cannot have any headway.
"They are trying to usurp MAAG which all of us formed, now some group are trying to hijack it and saying they are the lord which we are not part of and we will never allow it"
"What coalition are they forming? We are the ones that formed coalition of importers, exporters and freight forwarders, they trying to change their names into that of the coalition"
"They decided to breakout from MAAG because they believe that some groups are small, and now they are calling for coalition, why can't NAGAFF alone do it, they were saying before that government should recognize only two associations" he said.
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