This is the concluding part of the interview we had with the National President of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Prince Olayiwola Shittu. The first part was published last Monday. In part two, he talked about the CRFFN, ANLCA and other issues.
Rumour has it that ANLCA has pulled out of MAAG, what is the latest development?
This is the concluding part of the interview we had with the National President of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Prince Olayiwola Shittu. The first part was published last Monday. In part two, he talked about the CRFFN, ANLCA and other issues.
Rumour has it that ANLCA has pulled out of MAAG, what is the latest development?
Rumour has been there that we have pulled out from MAAG and I will tell you that as the president and chief executive of ANLCA, that our association will not tolerate the way MAAG operates and that is why people thought pulling out from MAAG was a rumour , but the letter confirmed that it is not a rumour that we have pulled out from MAAG because we joined MAAG voluntary, we were not coerced to join , it is not a government requirement , it does not add value to whatever we are doing because, even the coordinator himself is not transparent. You remember we set up a committee in MAAG to gather information in the port, but this man promised to provide them with pick up vans because what we are saying was that if we have pick up vans with MAAG inscription on it, people can use it to bring information to our desk, but above all it was just an illusion. Though it took a while for me to understudy the fellow but those were the culminating reasons why we felt it will be a distraction to ANLCA, so we have to pull out completely. For example, I am not surprised that somebody like Osita of Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers Exporters Coalition who has not even registered with CRFFN will be talking; I don't know the level of who his followers are, it’s just because everybody wants to be number one in their respective associations and then such a person will have the opportunity to come and make noise in the industry. In fact that Osita of a man has added more noise than value to this industry because whenever there are issues, he is one of those that want us to sit down together and find solutions to the problems in our ports. You will agree with me that each country has sovereignty but it is not where President Obama of USA is sitting that another president from Togo will tell him to get up for him to sit. In all of this, it is our people that are bearing the brunt because we are licensed by customs and I keep on telling people about that, there is difference between customs agents and freight forwarder. It is only in Nigeria that they do it in blanket form whereby everybody is called a freight forwarder; whether you are licensed or not. There is nobody that operates in the port without customs license and it is not exclusive to Nigeria, but all over the world, customs of the country must generate revenue and also examine the cargo for security reasons. This is the reason for customs to license individuals that they can hold responsible whenever there are issues concerning consignment rather than work with anybody. We have importers who use the cemetery as their address, but it is the agent who endorses the documents that will be able to know who the true owner of the job is. And that is why we joined the World Customs Brokers Organisation because we knew that we were far behind. In February we are going to South Africa for such training and we need colleagues from all over the world to make us understanding the missing link in the profession. The only difference is that the foreigners are more advanced than us; ICT has advanced as we can see it and that is why we want to catch up with it. Freight forwarding practice has more relevant in a country that produces or manufactures goods. It is when you want to export you will need the service of a freight forwarder, for him to get the documents like bill of laden ,source for vessels that will carry the cargo and forward it to the receiver elsewhere. Freight forwarding is a job that can be done in the office and not at the port, but in the Nigerian context all freight forwarders have access to the port. It is only licensed customs agents that are required to have offices and also have minimum requirements that customs inspect every year for one to retain his license and also renew it. NPA gives license, shipping companies and terminal operators register you every year based on customs license, thus if you don't have a customs license, you have no business at the port at all. People are saying we are trying to remove them from where they are making a means of livelihood, but how many of them truly have license to operate? As we speak, there are eight associations that are about to be registered under CRFFN all in the name of freight forwarding , customs agents and this will bring more problem to the industry.
Do you think those associations will be accredited by CRFFN, even if they don't meet the required criteria?
But the ones that have been registered and accredited by CRFFN do not even meet the requirements in the first instance, so that is not a criterion to stop others from coming on board as well. We are going to be very many as registered associations under CRFFN and these are some of the challenges faced by the council because the mistake they made in reducing the standard in the first instance is the one that has created these problems in which we find ourselves. In the first instance, how many of the associations meet the requirement of CRFFN?
CRFFN does not seem to have made any progress and ANLCA has been fingered as the one that does not want to give total support to the Council?
No, I disagree with that perception because there is no meeting organised by CRFFN that we have failed to attend.
As ANLCA President are you happy with the present position of CRFFN?
CRFFN does not have any problem rather it is self-inflicted. Now, one of the first thing that happened was that CRFFN appeared like a cage where you have chicken , turkey, ostrich and pigeon inside it. Of course you will agree with me that they will be noise all over, which was how the issue of CRFFN started. Against all suggestions from ANLCA that CRFFN was established and tailored after Council for Registered Engineers in Nigeria (COREN) and each association is recognised with its professional competence. All the associations fall under Nigeria Society for Engineers but when you check further, each of the associations has their respective register which was what we recommended to CRFFN and the Council's Act also examines those that are into freight forwarding practice and the first one is customs brokerage or licensed agents but people want to use the platform of CRFFN with their identity card as an avenue to do the business of clearing at the port.
Why was it that ANLCA did not assist in CRFFN’s quest to collect practising fee at the ports?
Because it is not in the Act of CRFFN to collect money from the ports; as a regulatory agency under the ministry of transport, it does not have the power to collect money from the port and before now our colleagues were saying no, it’s a private initiative and that they are the founder of CRFFN, but we had a court ruling that says the council is a government agency and government organisations are funded by government. Then the big question is – what are you looking at as an agency of government in the area of revenue collection? The trainings that we have been attending under CRFFN overtime are being taken care of by the individuals themselves and again the council is not a training institution, they are supposed to accredit training institutions to train the practitioners and after that it is expected of the council to even pay the institutions for the service. Now CRFFN has also banned associations from collecting dues at the ports from members thinking that they have shot us in the foot ,so if the council thinks that they are going to collect what would have been practicing fees that is collectable from individual members, what then will now go to the associations? CRFFN cannot replace the associations because they are not set up to do the work of advocacy, they cannot stand up to criticize NPA because they are under one ministry, but the associations can do that. If the minister is at fault, ANLCA can get up to criticize him, but CRFFN cannot be in a position to do that. But meanwhile CRFFN has its own calling and ANLCA cannot do the job of the council because everybody that is in the business must pay practicing fee and even licensing fee which is renewable on a yearly basis and how come CRFFN is not responsible to collect such monies. The last database we have on CRFFN is about 6000 and imagine a situation where we are paying N17,000 multiply by 6000; they need to do more as an organisation set up by the government. Some of the members of the council then, who are also members of various associations, find themselves more superior even to a well established association like ANLCA. CRFFN encourage splintering of associations because in the port today we have two arms of operators namely: customs brokers and freight forwarders; what CRFFN should have done is allow individual to choose one of the arms because with that it will be easy to regulate. The idea of NAGAFF and AREFF is that you perform the jobs of both, but that is not true. The direction we are heading towards would have been very easy by CRFFN as a government body and ANLCA said that if we take over that role then traditionally the income we get from members is not for CRFFN but for federation account. Anything apart from that we will head for court and that was how the minister hands-off that he was not going to sign the document. I can tell you that CRFFN can survive without collecting any form of fees or levy. ANLCA as an association has an amount that we pay per annum yet people cannot pay at all.
What is the relationship between you and the association’s Board of Trustees at the moment?
There is no misunderstanding between us and the board, because those stories are mere misinformation and speculation. We have a constitution that is our guide and that same constitution says the national executive council is the highest organ of the association, so if the board takes a position and the NECOM of which I am the president takes a decision, which arm of the association would you respect the most. The NEC has the power to say that election must hold. The only time the board has any role to play is advisory. It is not possible for nine members to override a whole association because we are not in PDP. But overtime we have discovered that personal animosity should not override the interest of the association and I will continue to tell them that they should not hate the president of ANLCA, rather they should hate Shittu because the office of the president should be given that relevance. The constitution says that the president shall rule with finality on any issue that is yet unresolved, which simply means somebody is in charge. The board is supposed to be advisory, but when they saw the impact by the executive under me, coupled with high profile and as a result everybody who has office in ANLCA also wants to use the opportunity to be relevant, which eventually led to stepping of toes among members. I told some people quietly that if we had completed the national secretariat, I wouldn’t have come back, I know what I am losing doing ANLCA 's job, but then I was prevailed upon by majority that the secretariat shouldn't be abandoned. Some people were ready to assault me if I decided not to come back as president. They appealed to me that the issue of the permanent secretariat must not be abandoned and as a result, I must say that my coming back as president was a sacrifice.
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