Stakeholders Task Freight Forwarding Associations To Train Members

Stakeholders in the maritime sector have advised all freight forwarding associations operating in the country to sponsor and fund members in all forms of capacity building programmes.

The appeal was made at a continuous mandatory training programme that was put together by the Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarders (NIFF) in collaboration with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) last Saturday in Lagos,
Leading the pack, founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam acknowledged that lack of funds by individuals is often a barrier to the quest for training programme.
Aniebonam who was also the chairman of the training session, described the army of ‘untrained’ agents at the ports as the real operators who should be empowered, he consequently advised that the various freight forwarding associations must be responsible for the training of their members.
He also submitted that the controversial transaction fee that was to have been collected by the CRFFN would have been used to empower freight forwarders.

He said that the high cost of training freight forwarders do not encourage most of them to participate at the training programmes.

"It is very germane and important even when there is a struggle between the CRFFN and the freight associations over who should collect transaction fee, which is a levy on cargo”, he stated, even as he explained that “freight forwarders are the people who are agents to the owners of the cargo who are importers".

"And CRFFN does not regulate them, that money is very important among associations and its members and if they have that in place it will be very easy to use the fund to sponsor their members to the mandatory programmes, he argued further.

"Because if we don't do that, we will find it very difficult to get the real freight forwarders, and all those untrained agents at the various ports are the real people that move cargoes out of the port, it’s not necessarily most of us that you see at this training”, he added.

According to him, the untapped agents are the raw materials that the training must be focused upon because most of the people in attendance are executives of various firms that understood paper works in the business.

Also speaking with our correspondent at the event, President of the NIFF; Dr.Zebulon Ikokhide said the programme that was designed for freight agents is gradually gaining momentum.

According to him," it has been planned that associations are supposed to sponsor their members but we have problem with the CRFFN in terms of funding because the fund is not there yet and if the fund is available, the council will fund the associations, then the association will now fund their members to come for the mandatory training".

Ikokhide also expressed happiness that participation by freight forwarders in training programmes have increased over time.

He described freight forwarders as the lawyers of the importers, thus they need the training in line with international best practices.

The institute’s president added that NIFF has been able to reduce the cost of training to encourage freight agents to participate, noting that the institute is ready to assist in training the operators despite the problems rocking CRFFN.

On her part, the President of Women In Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria , Mrs Jean Chiazor Anishere urged freight forwarding associations to sponsor and register upcoming practitioners with CRFFN in order to get trained.

Anishere described the training programme as an encouragement to freight forwarders and advised all freight agents to embrace the mandatory training programme, saying it is the key to move the sector forward.