Barely a month after scores of freight forwarders converged on the headquarters of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (CRFFN) in Lagos to protest against the stand of the president of the Association of Nigerian License Customs Agents (ANLCA;) Prince Olayiwola Shittu on the collection and sharing of transaction fee by the council, a group; the Progressive Alliance of ANLCA, has dissociated itself from the protest, saying that some individuals impersonated as members of the body rendering solidarity support to the CRFFN during the protest.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that one Mr. Abolaji Bodunrin had claimed to be president of the Progressive Alliance of ANLCA and one Mr. Lawal Isiaka had stood in as secretary of the group, and presented a letter of solidarity on behalf of the group to the Chairman of CRFFN, Alhaji Akeem Olanrewaju on the day of the protest.
But speaking with our correspondent in Lagos recently, the coordinator of the group, Alhaji Akanni Balogun explained that the body never gave anybody the mandate to represent it during the protest, even as he said that some people are out to impersonate.
Balogun described the protesters who carried placards at the CRFFN as ‘a rented crowd’ and that they are not freight forwarders at all.
“We never mandated anybody to go and protest, I as the coordinator was never informed, we are trying to make peace in the industry, if there is misunderstanding, we try to make peace, I think it is a discredit to the Yoruba race that we are having two sons, one is leading ANLCA and the other is leading the council, why must they be at logger heads”, he wondered.
“We are peace makers and not trying to apportion blames, but in the rally where somebody claimed to be the secretary of this group, we denounce it” Akanni stated.
Speaking further, he said that most of the faces at the protest are strange faces, except for two people that come meetings, “if you interview them properly you will realize that most of them are not clearing agents, I call them a rented crowd”.
“By mentioning our name, he made it seems as if we are out condemning people, we are not condemning anybody, we are neutral, ours is to make peace and make sure that the profession should be respected, the purpose of this alliance is to maintain peace, it is not a tribal thing and that is why you see we are core professionals”.
He explained that the body was established during the last ANLCA elections in Owerri and that it was used to campaign vigorously for the present Public Relations Officer of ANLCA, Mr. Obicee Okonkwo, the treasurer and the President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu.
“We formed this group from Owerri, it was when we came back to Lagos that we started holding meetings, what we wanted to do was that anybody who belongs to the maritime environment, we co-opt them as a sort of pressure group so that if our members want to contest for anything, we will rally round and work for him, including Igbos and so on and that is the essence of the group” he explained.
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