The embattled Tony Iju Nwabunike-led National Executive Committee (NECOM) of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) was inaugurated on 14th of April 2018.
Were it not for the controversial tenure elongation via an equally-controversial Annual General Meeting in Owerri, Imo state sometime in December, 2020, the tenure of Tony Nwabunike as President along with his executives ought to have expired.
Perhaps, the June 2021 decision of the Nwabunike NECOM to expel some notable members of the associations, especially members of the factional Board of Trustees (BoT) and some national and western zone executives, was the most shocking action taken by the embattled NECOM.
Those expelled were – former President of ANLCA, Chief Earnest Elochukwu, western zone chairman; Sir John Oforbike, Mr Temitope Akindele and Mr Gideon Nwagbaraocha.
Apart from these, the factional BoT chairman, Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha, and the secretary of the board; Prince Taiye Oyeniyi were also purportedly expelled from the association.
As a leading maritime media organisation, we have severally used all our platforms to highlight the challenges that the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents is facing. On many occasions, we have particularly used this page to condemn the crisis and we have always variously proffered solutions.
In one of our attempts to make the ANLCA ‘warlords’ to see the need for peace, we had wondered if someone actually cast a spell on the association. It appears so, but, it is obviously not so. It is not a spell that has held the association down for four years. It is greed, ego and ethnicity.
Before we forget, it may be worthwhile to recall that the lingering crises did not start today; in fact, it didn’t start during the eight years’ tenure of the immediate past National President of the association; Prince Olayiwola Shittu.
The current in-fighting which has defied all mediation, and which has seen various factions go in and out of courts and in and out of police cells, is embedded in the unwritten part of the association’s constitution.
For years, perhaps decades, it has been accepted as unwritten part of the association’s constitution that key positions in the NECOM and the BoT must rotate between tribes, and as such the positions must be shared between the two ethnic nationalities that dominate the association, that is the Yorubas and the Igbos.
Prince Olayiwola Shittu is officially, the seventh national president of the association. He was succeeded by Mr Tony Iju Nwabunike as ANLCA’s eight national president.
It is a fact that since Tony Nwabunike took over, there has been no love lost among the leaders of the association, from chapters to zone and to the national executive, and most disturbingly, the BoT.
Initially, it started as a mere issue within the association’s Board of Trustees, it was simply between two combatants for the board’s headship; that, is Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha and Chief Henry Njoku.
Painfully, the face-off started immediately Prince Olayiwola finished his statutory two terms of eight years.
On this page, about two years ago, this newspaper pleaded with ANLCA’s National President; Tony Nwabunike to rise above all partisanship and considerations in the larger interest of the association. He threw this advice away!
As it is now, so many things are wrong. One: The elected National President has left the country and has transmitted power to his deputy; Kayode Farinto, whose authority has now been challenged leading to the invasion (for the second time) of the association’s national secretariat in Lagos. Two: There is contention over the terminal date of the executives who were elected in 2018. Three: The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism which was activated a few sometime ago has broken down. Four: The warring factions are again looking up to the courts to resolve their face-off.
From all indications, ANLCA may have dragged itself into an abyss that is difficult to extricate from.
Perhaps and for the umpteenth time, now is the time for the feuding factions in the association’s board of trustees and the executives to think less of themselves.
Unless there is more to it, what value is the membership or even headship of the board of ANLCA adding to their lives and the lives of members of the association? The board has no direct relevance in the day-to-day running of the association. It is purely a ceremonial and an advisory body!
We want to call out and appeal to Prince Olayiwola Shittu, Sir Ernest Elochukwu, among others to lead the match towards a lasting peace for ANLCA. If they fail to do this, it could only mean that they are party to it. And if they are, then the part to reconciliation is indeed very far.
We are also strongly of the opinion that all those who are currently serving in the polarized board should step down, even if there is an election tomorrow, they should honourably recluse themselves.
Finally, in like manner and for the love of the association, the entire executive council of ANLCA should do the needful. The fact is that, the constitution review that took place in Owerri, Imo state is controversial and unpopular and fell short of moral standard. Were it not for the review, the tenure of the current executives would have ended.
We take note of the belated and feeble attempt by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to mediate. The governing council last week constituted a committee to step into the crisis and report back.
Read Also: What solutions can you proffer to the lingering ANLCA crises?
We are eager to see how the CRFFN governing council will be impartial in the crises that involve its Vice Chairman; Chief Henry Njoku and one of its strong members; Dr Kayode Farinto; the embattled acting President of ANLCA, who was recently controversially removed.
Without prejudice to what the CRFFN committee will come out with, we stand by our earlier position that, all the parties to the crises should step down from the leadership of ANLCA. We insist that all members of NECOM and BoT must vacate their positions.
But, to avoid a vacuum, we suggest that NECOM; both the one being led by Mr Tony Nwabunike and the one recently constituted (in acting capacity) by Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha factional BoT, should seize being in charge of the association.
Depending on what the ANLCA constitution allows, we suggest that the two factional Boards should fuse under the leadership of an independent umpire, to conduct an election for a new NECOM. Thereafter, a new BoT can be elected, so that the association can have a fresh start.
The above can only work if the parties believe in it. All these can be achieved in six months.
Sadly, when the battle is over, the grounds that have been lost, the respect and honour that have eluded ANLCA for about four years, may require a much longer time to be regained.
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