Alhaji Bala Daura is the National President of Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria. In this interview with Joshua Yousouph, he talks about the profession, his association and the regulatory agency; the CRFFN
Are you surprised that the Nigeria Customs Service couldn’t meet its revenue target for 2022?
How will I be surprised when China has given a trade line credit to the neighbouring countries who normally patronise us here? I’m not surprised and if you remember the Comptroller General of Customs made it clear to the National Assembly on national television that meeting this target will be a very difficult task and he is not guaranteeing them because they are issues of waiver which they know. So, it is not everything we blame the Customs. Customs are to implement. They are not the one that made the law. We cannot put all our problems on Customs. We know we elected these people who went there and gave them that pressure. So it is a simple issue to me. As far as I am concerned, we have no any problem with the Customs. The politicians that we voted in there are the cause. Everyone who is in this industry should know that this is going on because you don’t give a waiver and still expect to get what you want to get. It is not possible.
What is your take as regards the foot-dragging in the matter of Customs modernization?
There is one thing, we should all accept and adapt to change. There’s nothing good that comes easy. You don’t expect that when a new system starts, it would be as fast as possible. There must be some challenges and there must be some errors. So I pray they will scale through because having the scanners working will facilitate trade. You can remember we in our association just recently inaugurated the Trade Facilitation Committee just to facilitate trade, so that for instance as an importer, you have your goods landed in the port today, by tomorrow you can have your delivery so that you don’t pay demurrage. This is because if you paid demurrage, you are still going to put that cost of that demurrage on the goods and at the end of the day, it is the buyer or consumer; which is you and I that would have to pay that cost directly or indirectly.
Many people have described the Customs e-auction as a deceit; where the consignments are only auctioned to Customs cronies. What is your take on this?
In the area of auction, you know I am not an auctioneer. But one thing I know is that, even the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has adopted the same system. So if EFCC has adopted the same system, which means that is what the government of the day wants. I am not saying that the Customs are auctioning to their friends. No! There is a process. Anyone who wishes can apply. If you are lucky you will get it. Whatever belongs to you, no one can take it from you. I believe it is a thing of luck. If God says you are destined to get an auction, no one can stop you from getting it.
What is your appraisal of the CRFFN Governing Council, so far?
In the last council, I was part of it. We did excellently because that was the first time freight forwarders were trained. We made it mandatory because after the government has taken their share from the POF collection, we just have to train freight forwarders with the remaining proceeds. Most of us have Diploma and International Certificates in the maritime business which is very important. In any business you are doing, advancing is very important. So as far as I’m concerned, human beings are not perfect. Only God is perfect. To me, we have done well, and in this second tenure we are, we are trying to do our best so that we will have a legacy for the younger ones coming up and history will always remember that. That is the most important thing.
The tenure of the Registrar is over, do you think the CRFFN will perform better if we have a freight forwarder as the Registrar of the Council?
There’s one thing we should all understand. When we say Registrar, the Registrar is for the regulation of freight forwarding. This means the door is open for a freight forwarder as a freight forwarder which if he is disqualified, there’s no problem. I believe an advert will be made before taking a new Registrar for the council. The tenure of the immediate past Registrar elapsed on the 31st of January 2023 and he handed over to the most senior staff in the Council which is the normal process. So whenever the Council is ready to take another Registrar, the immediate past Registrar has the right to apply for a second term. So the issue of whether being a freight forwarder or not is not necessary. The former Register was employed through due process. There was advertisement and a committee was set up for that. I’m not a member of that committee, but I know that there is a committee for Employment and Promotion in the council. What the Chairman and Vice-Chairman did was to make sure that we have to use committee in whatever we are doing and that is the right thing to do. This is because all these things we are doing today, if you have been in the system of CRFFN you will understand that we are just there as a builder. The beneficiaries are the younger ones who are coming up. As far as we are there, we are looking up to what we will leave as a legacy for the upcoming ones who will now say the CRFFN is doing this and that for them. That is why we prioritise the training of freight forwarders within three and six months. So that we would enlighten them. Some of the clearing agents don’t know what the system is all about. But we know as time goes on, things will change. So when things change, you will have to cue in. When you cue in, you will get to your destination. So the CRFFN is doing excellently well. When you are in a government, people don’t really understand what it is. But maybe after our tenure, definitely I believe those who will come after us will say when we were there we did this and that. At least we are the first people to pass a bill at the Villa and the bill was approved. What we are trying to do is to make sure that every freight forwarder is being carried along and being trained. That training is better than any other thing, so that you can have your certificate. Even if you are not in Nigeria, at least you can call yourself a freight forwarder and you have a certificate to back it up.
How representative is the membership of AREFFN in all the various zones in the country?
In Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN), we are not loud. We don’t talk much. We believe in sensitising our members and working in harmony, with good relationship. We are everywhere. We are at the seaports, land borders and airports. So on the issue of membership, we do have members. We make sure that all our members are duly registered with the CRFFN in line with the CRFFN Act, because they are the regulators.
So in terms of membership, we have membership. You are probably asking this question because I don’t stay in Lagos, but when you move around you can confirm yourself that this association has great membership.
What do you think could be the final solution to the crisis in ANLCA?
The issue of crisis in ANLCA is coming to an end. I can assure you that. We all migrated from ANLCA and you know when the mother is fighting, the children always cry. That is the truth. On the issue of their crises affecting other associations, I would say no. All associations have their internal problems even political parties. We have five accredited associations and each and every one of them has their modes of operations. So definitely sometimes you must disagree to agree. What I believe and what I know is that by the special grace of God, ANLCA crises would soon be over.
What are your general recommendations to the freight forwarding industry?
My general recommendation to the freight forwarding industry is that we are getting old now as you can see even if you are seeing us as young men. We have put in 27 to 28 years in the system and even if you are married to a woman for 20 years, it means you people are getting old. So what we are looking up to is what the younger ones who are coming up will benefit. We encourage them to stand up for the challenge. Life is all about ups and downs. It may be good today and may be challenging tomorrow. Even look at the Customs, the people you know yesterday, most of them are now the big men today. The younger ones today whom you know when they were employed will be the leaders tomorrow. So life is a journey. The advice I am giving all freight forwarders is that we should encourage other people to come into the profession. If we have one way or the other to help each other to make sure that we have synergy among us, we should do that. The industry is big for everyone to come in. It is accommodating. It is just for us to understand that we are one. Even if we have different names, the most important thing is that we are freight forwarders. We are to work and generate revenue for our government for the benefit of our fellow senior citizens. So I think we are seeing this industry as a great industry that has a future for younger ones. My people use to make a proverb that as far as the sea never dries, the business will still continue. There will be a time I’ll have to go back to the farm. I am from the North and would not be able to come out again but remain at the farm. We are encouraging younger ones to come up either in the East, North, West and South. This is a business of self-employment. You don’t have to rely on the government in most cases. You will also notice that most of our freight forwarders are very intelligent. We have the younger ones who are coming up and I believe they can do better than us.
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