TIME UP FOR QUACK FREIGHT FORWARDERS

•    Says Unregistered Freight Forwarders Can Longer Practice

Going by what both the chairman,  governing council of Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) , Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju and the registrar of the council ,Sir Mike Jukwe said at the induction of about 4,000 registered individual and corporate  freight forwarders last weekend, it may henceforth become difficult for unregistered freight forwarders to practice in Nigeria.   
Both the chairman and the registrar of the Council told the capacity main auditorium of the University of Lagos on Saturday that the essence of registering and subsequent inducting of 4000 individual and corporate members is to bring sanity to the practice of freight forwarding in Nigeria.
According to the chairman, “if you are not registered with us, you can not practice freight forwarding any longer in Nigeria and you can not even go into the ports again.” He stressed that anyone who is not registered and who is still parading himself as a freight forwarder is a tout.
Apparently referring to the capacity crowd that filled the auditorium of the university, the CRFFN chairman told reporters after the induction that the era when any one can freely take on the nomenclature of a freight forwarder is gone.
“With the induction, touting, ‘machine outside’ and all substandard activities of those who called themselves freight forwarder will stop, today is the beginning of a new era, we already have our tribunal which will send fraudulent people to where they belong”, he stated.
And speaking in the same manner, the council’s registrar said unequivocally that those who were inducted last weekend are the only ones who can practice as freight forwarders in Nigeria.
“Those who have been inducted today are the people who are legally allowed to practice in our industry and to carry on the business of freight forwarding in Nigeria”.   
He assured the inductees that after they might have taken the oath of allegiance and signed the code of professional conduct, this register will be gazette, in other words, it becomes a law, those whose names will be in that register are legally recognised to practice this profession”.
At the event, two freight forwarding associations, namely: Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) were formally given their certificates of registration as accredited freight forwarding associations. But the registrar assured other associations that were yet to be given accreditation that the doors were not closed on them and that as soon as they met the criteria, they would be duly registered.