Because of recent development in the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), we are persuaded to republish this interview which we had with a former President of NAGAFF; Dr Eugene Nweke. He spoke in May this year with both Yinka Onigbinde and Joshua Yousouph about the crises which have crippled ANLCA. He also offered suggestions.
You were the President of NAGAFF when Prince Olayiwola Shittu was ANLCA President. Some people have said ANLCA died after Shittu. Do you belong to this school of thought?
ANLCA did not die. When Shittu left, there was leadership misconception and misdirection. These misconceptions and misdirection were borne out of peculiar interests founded by egoism. So, ANLCA is not dead. What I always say to executive leaders is that when they allow their ego or unnecessary pride to run down the corporate mission and vision of an organization, posterity will not be fair to you. The corporate mission and vision of an organization is to be driven and not to be jeopardized by one executive.
Some have insinuated that NAGAFF is the greatest beneficiary of ANLCA crises. How will you react to this?
Can that be possible? If NAGAFF is driving the port process and freight forwarding industry or the one taking decisions concerning the state of the system. If NAGAFF is the one driving it, then I’ll say NAGAFF has taken the shine of ANLCA or simply say the crises have benefitted NAGAFF in the show of leadership. Asides this, how else has it benefited NAGAFF? The only thing I can see that has happened which was well-intended was the initiative that was entered into between NAGAFF and ANLCA, but ANLCA is in factions. Invariably, it is not total. During the time of Shittu, it was total ANLCA and total NAGAFF. So we achieved a lot. I had to write an open letter the third time because when I got to the port, I realized that so many of our colleagues are very sick. I saw posters of dead people and many of them died from high blood pressure. That means the job they have outlined is no longer what it is. You see freight forwarders running with cash to give as bribes even when we are talking about paperless documentation. Something is wrong. What NAGAFF is known for is that when the government makes a policy statement, we lean on that and stamp our foot on that policy statement in order to advance it.
What will you proffer as the lasting solution to the ANLCA crisis?
Let me tell you the gospel truth. The BoT chairman; Mustapha is a gentle man that I know very well. The President (Tony Nwabunike) is also a gentleman. He has been my Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman and also my Chairman in Anambra Bonded Terminal Forum. I have served with Tony. When you are in Leadership, you must take responsibility. If you allow the people under you to decide for you about which action to be taken, you will never make an impact. I have been a President. You can only make your opinion known. I will cipher it and when I am done, I will take the decision that is even. My advice without mincing words is that all the warring parties for the sake of the association should resign under pedigree. Mustapha, Tony and Taiye should step down for the sake, beauty and love for the association and industry and members. Others have stepped down. The crises for the space of four years have caused so many people’s death.
ANLCA presidency is not about Tony, it is about that office. So if Tony is not getting it right, you’ll manage him then in the next election you decide otherwise and not to tear everything and stampede the process. We talk about a lot of court actions and litigations. Have you ever seen where the court effectively settled an association matter? If a court judgment comes, it will scatter the association the more. Most Judges will always adjourn the cases to give them time to settle and come to terms.
To summarize it, we should look at the integrity of who we are. We are noble men and our profession is noble. We are Chief Executive Officers and employers of labour. Coming from this background, they should come into the association to fine-tune and use their executive and leadership experiences to factor an endearing, mobile, and viable leadership. They should look beyond who offended who. These are inconsequential. It has no place in committed leadership. It is a when you find out that either by adding value to the system you devalue the system. The best thing to do to save your face is to resign and apologize to the people.
With NAGAFF, there seems to be a difference. Why?
NAGAFF system is different from ANLCA. ANLCA has existed for so many years and withstood so many challenges. They have come out of it and remained stronger. That is the beauty of democracy. But there is a limitation to leadership. Leadership is what we are talking about. When I was five years in office, I told Dr. Aniebonam that my time was up, but they said I should hold on. I put up my plans and I handed it over to the Board Chairman. I called the Press and addressed them that I have gone. My Oga never believed it, he thought I was joking. But that was how I left. You must give chances for people to consolidate. What you are building is an enduring organization, a system that will outlive us. Let me ask what legacy can these actors say they have built in ANLCA for the past four years?
Most of the people that are coming to NAGAFF don’t know the Mission and Vision of NAGAFF. So you will not know when you have driven outside the vision and mission. Can you look at NAGAFF now and say they are driven by the mission? The answer is No. NAGAFF’s vision is to usher in a sustainable freight forwarding practice. Our Mission is enthroning professionalism of freight forwarding in Nigeria. We must understand this. The underlined word is “Professionalism” both in the Mission and Vision of NAGAFF. That is what we run with.
There seems to be confusion between CRFFN and the associations?
I did a research on why we keep having this issue. We must understand the concept of unionism. We must also understand the concept of collectivism and what a professional association is all about. They sound same but they are not the same thing. With what is happening in the port today, the best advocacy we can do is to unionize ourselves. This is because the regulatory council that is supposed to give direction is not effective. So the best thing associations can do is to unionize. One of the critical reasons why the governing council of the CRFFN and the industry is going the way it is going, beyond the issue of criticizing the governing council, there is a regulation that we have submitted that have not gone through the National Assembly for gazette. If we have got that, by now, it will be a different ball game.
The proposed 2012 regulation is the amalgamation of all the accredited associations and any other association that have gone through the screening of CRFFN but not accredited; coming together and it is that amalgamation that we registered in FIATA. It is associations that we registered in FIATA not the CRFFN. The Council is only unique in Nigeria. Ghana doesn’t have a Council. What they have is an institute. Most other countries in Africa actually deals with a National association and the only way we can evolve into a National association is the coming together using the policy drive of the regulatory council; which is what we have done. A former Council Chairman; Alhaji Hakeem Olarenwaju was to sign that when we came back from the Senate.
So by now, we should be talking about the amalgamation into one freight forwarding association of a national character; then we will go and remove the name of CRFFN from FIATA. After doing that, when we will meet in our Freight Forwarders Consultative Council to discuss our problems where every actor is involved and we make a policy statement, we would have our respect and command respect. But if we continue to allow CRFFN to represent us at FIATA, how many of us in Nigeria still go for the regional conference of FIATA? We have just only few individuals. Ordinarily the association should go with delegates to every regional meeting. That is our profession.
The freight forwarding sector is a dynamic environment where changes are coming; either in shipping or terminal operating models and design; the product itself having different design and packaging, yet all must go through the process of customs classification.
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