For about six years, the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) had no governing council, the last being the one headed by Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju. Since then, peace has eluded the CRFFN, until the latest efforts to conduct elections.
By its original timetable the governing council ought to have been in place by the end of May, but that was not to be, and painfully, a second timetable, which would have ushered-in a new duly-constituted council by early July has also been aborted.
Created in 2007 via an Act of the Nigerian National Assembly for the purpose of professionalising freight forwarding in Nigeria, the CRFFN has had an unfair dose of problems right from birth.
When it was created, the Council was conceived as the possible solution to the myriad of problems which had militated against freight forwarding and logistics in Nigeria.
Those who fought for its birth would never have envisaged that the CRFFN, whose enactment was hailed by stakeholders, would shortly afterward , be faced with ‘life-threatening’ issues, such as have forced it not to have a governing council for several years and also to become so cash-strapped as not to be able to meet its obligations.
Without fear of being contradicted, one can say that, since its creation, the CRFFN has not enjoyed peace. At different times, it has had to contend with freight forwarding associations and individual freight forwarders.
One of the questions that its promoters may ask is: Was it wrong to have fought for the creation of a body that would enhance the freight forwarding profession in Nigeria?
It is the fault of the associations that the elections were delayed; they raised several obstacles, they insisted that until the elections into the governing council are conducted, there will be no payment of POF.
It is commendable that, even to though there were fears that the five registered associations would disagree about guidelines for the elections; they were able to reach a consensus. The role of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) in galvanizing the consensus is commendable.
However, recent revelations infer that the NAGAFF may have shot itself in the foot and by implication, the five registered associations. The association allegedly championed the case of disenfranchising ‘non-members of association from the governing council.
We hear that, even though it has given no reason for suspending the elections, the single act of disqualifying some aspirants is the reason behind the stalemate. We learnt that the supervising ministry of transportation is opposed to the disqualification.
Truth is, there is nowhere in the guidelines where it was stated that aspirants must be a member of a registered freight forwarding association to be eligible to contest.
It is in the interest of freight forwarders to stand firm together, while allowing inclusiveness in the move towards constituting the governing council of CRFFN.
The five registered freight forwarding associations should stop grandstanding and remember that the CRFFN is the regulator y body for all practitioners, including non-members of associations as well as corporate organisations involved in logistics.
This is perhaps the last chance for the CRFFN and its registered associations and members to have the governing council in place and put the CRFFFN back on track. Freight forwarders should remember that already, government-appointed members of the council have already been inaugurated and they have already been superintending the affairs of the council, with the Registrar as the Chief Executive Officer.
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