Shittu: “NAGAFF Actually Wanted Even Custom Brokers To Renew Their Licenses Through It”
Shittu: “More People Should Come Into CRFFN Council”
Nweke: “We Insist That the Right Thing Must Be Done, The Registrar Is A Good ManContinued from last week
The first part of this exclusive interview with Prince Olayiwola Shittu of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents and Mr Eugene Nweke of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders which was published last week elicited a riotous reaction which underscores the high esteem in which the two gentlemen are held in the industry; especially, by their immediate constituents; the freight forwarders. Even their critics agreed that the joint interaction will further invigorate thousands of freight forwarders who are being led to believe that the two foremost associations are always at logger head. Like I wrote last week, the duo has taken a commendable position to work together in the interests of their members, they deserve to be encouraged. Enjoy the final part.
Both of you recently served on a committee on port charges, how far has the task force gone?
Eugene: The task force is still on, we have not finished the assignment, it’s just that the minister has to address some of the recommendations that we have made so far. When we went in as a task force, some of the things that we found in the system require some inter-ministerial intervention; therefore the minister had to set up other committees to re-evaluate the performance of all these terminal operators. It is easier for us to say that a terminal is not performing but with what statistics? So, since our terms of reference do not cover that, the minister has set up another committee to evaluate the performance of the terminal operators themselves and that’s why this is on going. We also know that there have always been problems with our ports; we want to know why shipping companies using Nigerian ports are creating problems, we have asked NPA what their role is under the concession agreement, we also have some problems that requires ministerial intervention that is beyond NPA management and that is why the committee is also on. We have also find out that customs is laying emphasis on cargo throughput, but in the jetties, they have not been forthcoming to know even the crew that goes out of this country, they don’t have the statistics, but I know they are supposed to be there, even if they are not being paid they should know how many crew leaves Nigeria and compile a list, so the minister put this committee in place because we are looking at the maritime industry holistically and not just from our committee, that is why the minister said we are saddled with port charges and efficiency.
Shittu: We are the complainants, we brought up issues and the minister then called us to go and find out what the situation is, if we do not come out with very reasonable complaints, the minister wouldn’t have gone ahead to set up that committee and the minister is still of the opinion that the committee has not finished its job, he is interested to know whether the circumstances that led to our letter to him are still prevailing or it has been ameliorated. So its more like a task force that will once in a while come in check what is on ground and report back to the minister.
Are you satisfied with the way the ports are being operated at the moment especially when it comes to customs clearance procedure?
Shittu: We have problems with almost everybody, with the terminals, the bonded terminals; shipping companies everybody is just doing all they can to make money as if Nigeria will not be there tomorrow. Definitely, I have problems with the Customs too, the problems with customs is that orders will come from above and it will be misinterpreted down here, the man up there is crying that let us get revenue for government but the people down here are maximizing revenue into their pocket, so who is going to save it, many people have given us bad names, it is not meant to be so but we just feel its about time we draw attention to our industry that the people who are suppose to help us to sanitize the industry are the beneficiaries who don’t want the right thing to be done. Now we know that machine outside (MO) is no longer the in- thing in custom procedure, but the in-thing now is that any officer can get up and tell you that the value of your goods is low and he will hold you to ransom, you either settle him or go ahead to take a debit note, but avoid demurrage at all cost. The shipping companies are also capitalizing on this, if you have your consignment to carry on Friday you will see it on Saturday and when you go there, they will tell you that they are going to do rating for two weeks but nobody refunds you the excess, so people are just capitalizing and doing things to suit themselves, until the government practically decides to put an end to some excesses of their own government officials to ensure that all the money that goes into private pockets let us put all of them together and give it to government and lets go to rest, that is why with my colleague here we have been thinking of creating our own benchmark, to know how much you pay to clear your goods, then you will not have to pay more than that. In some clearing jobs, you will discover that what you ‘spread’ among the people who have the coercive authority is much more than the duty you pay to government.
Why did NAGAFF align with others to attempt to frustrate the verification exercise?
Nweke: Are you aware that NAGAFF was to represent the umbrella body of freight forwarders in Nigeria and other associations are credited to us?
Shittu: The crisis of confidence that appears to create CRFFN was the attempt by the NAGAFF high command to make every other person in the port industry subjected to their rules and guidelines, whereby even custom brokers will be asked to go and renew their licenses through NAGAFF, that was the beginning of the war between the ANLCA- led by Elochukwu and Dr. Aniebonam that was leading NAGAFF, when it was discovered to be so and knowing fully well that ANLCA had become an old hand in the industry it was seen as an attempt by Dr. Aniebonam to rubbish all ANLCA members and to make it look very unnecessary, so what they did then was that the draft bill that was debated specifically mentioned that NAGAFF will be in control of freight forwarders and we said no, if they do that it means they have given an undue advantage to NAGAFF; I a lot about that history and these are part of the amendment that later followed the bill before it now became an Act.
Nweke: It may interest you to know that we have members of Association of West Coast Traders and Clearing Agents (AWECTAC) affiliated to NAGAFF, we have the Association of Ship and Cargo Agent of West African Trade, so together we moved it and that was why ICPC gave us a vanguard. We have been together before now, now that new associations are coming forward and we have maintained that we are the umbrella body of freight forwarders in Nigeria, except by the Act of parliament; Act 16 of 2007, all of us will now go under a regulatory council. But before now, our mind set was to give direction to this industry that there must be an umbrella body, so it will not be mistaken when you say you see NAGAFF trying to carry other associations along.
I did not see these other associations you mentioned in the Central Working Committee, we only saw NAFAC, AREFF and so on
Nweke: They are people that have made an attempt to apply to the council, we have done a letter to the other associations too advising them of the need to go and register with the council.
What advise will you give to young ones who are trying to come into this industry?
Shittu: Its about time that we give room for more players in the industry, and the era of who is an ANLCA or NAGAFF should stop because the constitution guarantees every Nigerian freedom of association and I don’t believe that your being in ANLCA makes you a superior person to another person in other association, the horizon is wide enough, if you go abroad you will discover that in a country you may have more than one hundred associations, we are even yet to see associations the way we are going, but as license customs agents what we need to do is to improve on ourselves and make sure that those who own licenses don’t allow touts to use them to commit fraud in the industry, because if you know how much it costs you to maintain that license then you will know that the peanuts you collect for stamping for people can not help you, and you should be proud of being a licensed customs agent because what you are doing is adding value to the port. Importantly, we should also go beyond license customs agency, we should also be seen as freight forwarders who are capable of extending beyond the horizon of customs clearing, after all before you get your license you are supposed to have a means of transport which is part of freight forwarding and you are also supposed to even have the knowledge itself, so we should not be looking at the industry as if an association is trying to take over everything because this will not pay us, rather we should be thinking about establishing a profession that our children will be happy to inherit.
Nweke: To me I believe the wind of change is here through the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria and in this direction I will tell the up-coming ones that there is need for them to understand that custom brokerage is not the only thing that makes you a freight forwarder, there are other things you can do in the industry, there is need for to them to start thinking about specializing in other areas within the freight forwarding chain.
What is your sincere assessment of CRFFN since its inception?
Shittu: It’s not too late because I am always of the opinion that the council does not require a period of two years to arrive, it can also not do it alone, all we need is the input and presence of other members of the freight forwarding family to go in there and add more value, it should not be limited to those who are there, more people should come in, there should be more seasoned freight forwarders in the council so that we can all share ideas, provided the actors there think of the council in future and not just for today. Initially we didn’t even know how it was going to be, some thought it was going to be an agency of government, and some just interpreted it to suit their personal purpose. But what I know is that direction is gradually coming in when in the last eight months, we have had a registrar who is doing a wonderful job, if the registrar is given a free hand to do his work and members of the governing council realize that they are just like board members who are just there for consultative purposes and approval, then we will know that the man will take us some where, but when you are just interfering in the day to day running of the council, then you are giving the registrar a handicap because he wouldn’t know which one to follow, and when we are busy fighting our selves over nothing, when we could have used the time to cover more grounds, but I know eventually we will get there.
Nweke: I believe there is no system that is perfect, NAGAFF from the beginning has been championing the course for change and professional freight forwarding practice, we are trying to make sure that the Act is given proper implementation and we appreciate the constraints, but we insist that the right thing must be done, the registrar is a good man, he is trying.
*CONCLUDED
Discussion about this post